WhenToBird

Bubo virginianus · Strigidae

When Do Great Horned Owls Arrive in New York?

Adult Great Horned Owl
Photo: Michael Warner, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

Great Horned Owls are winter birds in New York: they arrive in mid August, peak in mid December (1.2% of checklists), and most are gone by late May.

When to look

First arrivalsAug 15-21mid August
Common byAug 15-21mid August
PeakDec 15-21mid December
Most gone byMay 22-31late May

Best: mid December. First arrivals mid August; most are gone by late May. Peak: on about 1.2% of New York checklists.

  1. Janpeak season
  2. Febpeak season
  3. Marpeak season
  4. Aprpeak season
  5. Maycommon
  6. Jununcommon
  7. Juluncommon
  8. Augcommon
  9. Sepcommon
  10. Octcommon
  11. Novcommon
  12. Decpeak season

Darker months: more checklists report it. Outlined: peak month.

0%0.5%1%1.5%Jan 1-7: 1.1% of 66410 checklistsJan 8-14: 1.0% of 49310 checklistsJan 15-21: 0.9% of 49919 checklistsJan 22-31: 1.2% of 62513 checklistsFeb 1-7: 1.1% of 43526 checklistsFeb 8-14: 1.0% of 49753 checklistsFeb 15-21: 0.7% of 65147 checklistsFeb 22-28: 1.1% of 50173 checklistsMar 1-7: 1.0% of 50325 checklistsMar 8-14: 1.0% of 55371 checklistsMar 15-21: 1.0% of 56293 checklistsMar 22-31: 1.1% of 82677 checklistsApr 1-7: 1.0% of 65295 checklistsApr 8-14: 1.1% of 73080 checklistsApr 15-21: 1.2% of 73857 checklistsApr 22-30: 1.2% of 106093 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.8% of 102772 checklistsMay 8-14: 0.6% of 110051 checklistsMay 15-21: 0.6% of 94797 checklistsMay 22-31: 0.4% of 101272 checklistsJun 1-7: 0.3% of 59471 checklistsJun 8-14: 0.3% of 55497 checklistsJun 15-21: 0.3% of 51761 checklistsJun 22-30: 0.3% of 59219 checklistsJul 1-7: 0.3% of 48226 checklistsJul 8-14: 0.3% of 42315 checklistsJul 15-21: 0.3% of 40637 checklistsJul 22-31: 0.3% of 57183 checklistsAug 1-7: 0.3% of 40461 checklistsAug 8-14: 0.4% of 39880 checklistsAug 15-21: 0.5% of 41146 checklistsAug 22-31: 0.5% of 63381 checklistsSep 1-7: 0.6% of 48640 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.6% of 47882 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.7% of 49063 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.7% of 57906 checklistsOct 1-7: 0.8% of 48447 checklistsOct 8-14: 0.7% of 51901 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.7% of 46717 checklistsOct 22-31: 0.8% of 61992 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.7% of 44593 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.6% of 42566 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.7% of 39675 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.8% of 51197 checklistsDec 1-7: 1.0% of 36567 checklistsDec 8-14: 1.1% of 37254 checklistsDec 15-21: 1.5% of 43754 checklistsDec 22-31: 1.1% of 62470 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Frequency is the share of complete checklists in New York that listed the bird, 2016–2025. It is not a head count, and it follows where and when people go birding. How to read it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

Embed this map on your site

Where in New York

Best counties

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Nassau CountyBest mid April · 2161 checklists that week, 95,019 in all6.5%
  2. Bronx CountyBest the second week of February · 415 checklists that week, 24,489 in all3.9%
  3. New York CountyBest the second week of December · 2550 checklists that week, 187,471 in all3.9%
  4. Tioga CountyBest early November · 299 checklists that week, 21,713 in all3.8%
  5. Seneca CountyBest late April · 2027 checklists that week, 47,387 in all3.2%
  6. Queens CountyBest late April · 2534 checklists that week, 76,201 in all2.8%

Best spots

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Rensselaer LakeAlbany County, best late March · 22 checklists that week, 249 in all69%
  2. Central Park (north 15)New York County, best late November · 23 checklists that week, 571 in all48%
  3. Millpond County ParkNassau County, best late March · 40 checklists that week, 1,381 in all40%
  4. Alley Pond Park (southeast)Queens County, best the second week of January · 28 checklists that week, 2,015 in all39%
  5. Sands Point County ParkNassau County, best the second week of April · 22 checklists that week, 1,059 in all34%
  6. Central Park (north 5)New York County, best mid December · 20 checklists that week, 1,025 in all29%

Busy spots report more of everything; compare the checklist counts before you drive anywhere.

Best time of day

In New York, the Great Horned Owl is most often listed on checklists started between 5 and 7 pm (1.3% of those checklists).

0%0.5%1%1.5%12 am: too few checklists (1146) to judge1 am: too few checklists (1055) to judge2 am: too few checklists (1121) to judge3 am: too few checklists (1353) to judge4 am: too few checklists (4785) to judge5 am: too few checklists (32052) to judge6 am: 1.3% of 124869 checklists7 am: 0.5% of 298506 checklists8 am: 0.5% of 337334 checklists9 am: 0.6% of 307787 checklists10 am: 0.5% of 270801 checklists11 am: 0.4% of 233238 checklists12 pm: 0.4% of 213830 checklists1 pm: 0.5% of 193321 checklists2 pm: 0.6% of 180741 checklists3 pm: 0.7% of 170348 checklists4 pm: 1.2% of 147224 checklists5 pm: 1.3% of 111962 checklists6 pm: 1.3% of 78261 checklists7 pm: too few checklists (44425) to judge8 pm: too few checklists (15648) to judge9 pm: too few checklists (4795) to judge10 pm: too few checklists (2454) to judge11 pm: too few checklists (1378) to judge12a3a6a9a12p3p6p9p
Share of checklists started in each local hour that reported it. It reflects when people go birding as well as when birds are active. Grey hours have too few checklists (under 2% of the state’s, or under 200) to judge.
Week-by-week table
MonthDays 1-78-1415-2122-end
January1.1%1.0%0.9%1.2%
February1.1%1.0%0.7%1.1%
March1.0%1.0%1.0%1.1%
April1.0%1.1%1.2%1.2%
May0.8%0.6%0.6%0.4%
June0.3%0.3%0.3%0.3%
July0.3%0.3%0.3%0.3%
August0.3%0.4%0.5%0.5%
September0.6%0.6%0.7%0.7%
October0.8%0.7%0.7%0.8%
November0.7%0.6%0.7%0.8%
December1.0%1.1%1.5%1.1%

Neighboring states

  • Connecticut: arrives the second week of August, 1 week earlier than New York
  • New Jersey: arrives mid August, in the same week than New York
  • Pennsylvania: arrives late August, 1 week later than New York
  • Delaware: arrives mid August, in the same week than New York

Common questions

When do Great Horned Owls arrive in New York?
Great Horned Owls are winter birds in New York: they arrive in mid August, peak in mid December (1.2% of checklists), and most are gone by late May.
When do Great Horned Owls leave New York?
Most Great Horned Owls have left New York by late May, when reports fall below half their usual rate.
When is the best time to see a Great Horned Owl in New York?
The Great Horned Owl is reported most often in mid December, on about 1.2% of New York checklists.
Where in New York are Great Horned Owls seen most often?
By county, Nassau County, Bronx County, and New York County have the highest peak reporting rates for the Great Horned Owl (counties with at least 200 checklists).