Colorado’s mountains, canyons, shortgrass prairies, and river bottoms support one of the more varied owl communities in the American West. Birders and wildlife biologists have documented 13 types of owls in Colorado, ranging from a robin-sized insect-hunter that migrates south every winter to a ground-nesting species that lives in abandoned prairie dog burrows. Each one has carved out its own niche in the state’s ecosystems.
This guide walks through all 13 species found across Colorado, covering what each owl looks like, where it tends to show up, and which ones face real conservation pressure. A few of these birds are common backyard visitors; others are so secretive that even longtime birders go years without a confirmed sighting.
| Owl | Typical Size | Primary Habitat | Best Time to Spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barn Owl | Medium (14-20 in wingspan) | Farmland, barns, open country | Year-round, dusk |
| Burrowing Owl | Small (~21 in wingspan) | Prairie dog colonies, grassland | Spring-summer, daytime |
| Flammulated Owl | Very small | Ponderosa pine forest | Summer nights |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | Small (18-24 in wingspan) | Eastern plains woodlands | Year-round, dusk |
| Western Screech-Owl | Small | Foothill and canyon woodlands | Year-round, dusk |
| Long-eared Owl | Medium | Dense conifer groves | Winter, Western Slope |
| Short-eared Owl | Medium | Open grassland, marsh | Winter days |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | Very small | Mountain forest | Year-round, nights |
| Great Horned Owl | Large (3.3-4.8 ft wingspan) | Nearly all habitats | Year-round |
| Snowy Owl | Large | Open plains (rare visitor) | Occasional winters |
| Northern Pygmy Owl | Tiny | Mixed mountain forest | Daytime, year-round |
| Boreal Owl | Small | High-elevation spruce-fir | Winter, high country |
| Mexican Spotted Owl | Medium-large | Canyon country, old forest | Rare, year-round |
1. Barn Owl
The barn owl (Tyto alba) stands apart from every other owl on this list taxonomically. Barn Owls are Colorado’s only owls from the Tytonidae family, while all of the others belong to the family Strigidae, sometimes known as “true owls.” That distinction shows up in the face: barn owls have distinctive heart-shaped faces that differ from the rounder face shapes of true owls, along with downward-facing bills that resemble noses.
The name comes from its nesting habits. Barn Owls get their name from their habit of making their nests in barns, attics, and abandoned buildings. Physically, barn owls have a 42.1 to 43.3 in wingspan, making them medium-sized for owls, and feed on a diet of mice, shrews, and voles to sustain their 430-620 gram body. They’re a permanent resident, so anyone hearing an eerie, raspy shriek near an old barn or grain silo at dusk in eastern Colorado is likely hearing this species rather than the more familiar hooting owls. Barn owls follow a similar farmland lifestyle in other states; the species is just as common around the bayous covered in this guide to owls in Louisiana.
Pro Tip: Barn Owls don’t hoot. Their call is a harsh, drawn-out screech, which is often the fastest way to tell one apart from a Great Horned Owl in the dark.
2. Burrowing Owl
Few birds break the “owls live in trees” assumption as thoroughly as the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia). Burrowing Owls are the only raptors that nest and roost underground, usually in abandoned burrows left behind by groundhogs or prairie dogs. In Colorado, the Burrowing Owl’s range is breeding-only, so they show up during the warmer months rather than year-round.
This species also carries real conservation weight in the state. Burrowing Owls are a threatened species in Colorado, largely because they live in prairie dog towns, which are rapidly disappearing. Their long legs and daytime activity make them one of the easier owls to photograph, since they’ll often perch right at a burrow entrance in broad daylight. The species shares that vulnerable status with several other animals covered in this roundup of endangered animals in Colorado.
Important Note: Because Burrowing Owls depend on active prairie dog colonies, developers and land managers in eastern Colorado are often required to survey for the species before disturbing grassland habitat.
3. Flammulated Owl
The flammulated owl (Psiloscops flammeolus) is one of the smallest and least-seen owls in the state. Grayish or rust-toned with dark eyes rather than the yellow eyes typical of most owls, it spends only the warm months in Colorado’s ponderosa pine forests before migrating south for winter, feeding almost entirely on moths and other night-flying insects. Hiking on the Pikes Peak trail might lead to a sighting of the Flammulated Owl, though its soft, low-pitched hoot is far easier to hear than the bird itself is to see.
Its diet overlaps with several insect groups found in the same forests, including the beetles and moths covered alongside other insects in Colorado. Because it’s almost entirely nocturnal and well camouflaged against pine bark, most confirmed sightings come from birders responding to its call rather than spotting it by sight.
4. Eastern Screech-Owl
The eastern screech-owl (Megascops asio) occupies a narrow slice of Colorado, sticking mainly to wooded areas along the eastern border. It resembles its western counterpart in almost every aspect, only with darker patterns on the chest, weighs around 160 grams with a wingspan of 18.1 to 24 inches, and feeds on larger prey such as skunks, rats, rabbits, and squirrels while living more than ten years.
Despite the name, this owl doesn’t actually screech so much as trill and whinny, a sound often mistaken for a small mammal rather than a bird of prey. Its range extends well beyond Colorado’s eastern plains into states like Minnesota, where similar woodland habitat supports healthy populations. Nest cavities in mature cottonwoods along the South Platte and Arkansas rivers are a reliable place to look.
5. Western Screech-Owl
West of the Continental Divide, the western screech-owl (Megascops kennicottii) fills the same ecological role its eastern cousin plays on the plains. This small, mottled gray owl is a master of camouflage, pressing flat against tree bark during the day so its cryptic plumage blends almost seamlessly into the trunk. It’s possible to catch a glimpse of the Western Screech while walking on the Pronghorn Trail, one of several foothill routes where the species turns up regularly.
Its call is a series of accelerating hoots often compared to a bouncing ball coming to rest, quite different from the whinny of the eastern species. Western screech-owls hunt everything from insects to small rodents and even the occasional songbird, and they’ll readily take up residence in nest boxes placed in canyon-edge cottonwoods. Other raptors that share this foothill terrain are detailed in this guide to hawks in Colorado.
6. Long-eared Owl
The long-eared owl (Asio otus) is often mistaken for a small great horned owl at first glance. Long-eared Owls have ear tufts similar to Great Horned Owls, but their bodies are smaller, with round faces and large eyes that give them what can look like a surprised expression. Despite the slight build, the male’s hoot can be heard for half a mile, carrying well across the dense conifer stands where the species roosts communally in winter.
They can be found on the Western Slope all year, and in other parts of Colorado during the winter. Globally, the picture is mixed: the Long-eared Owl population is decreasing due to habitat destruction and vehicle collisions, though the species is still expanding its range in some areas and remains classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. Roosting groups of a dozen or more birds in a single grove of junipers or spruce are not unusual in winter, making this one of the more social owls on this list. Other open-country raptors that overlap with its winter range are covered in this guide to falcons in Colorado.
7. Short-eared Owl
Unlike most owls, the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is often active well before dark, coursing low over grasslands and wetlands on buoyant, moth-like wingbeats. Its barely visible ear tufts and streaky, tawny-brown plumage help it disappear into dry grass the moment it lands, but in flight it’s one of the easier owls to identify simply because it’s out hunting in daylight.
Short-eared owls nest directly on the ground in open country, a habit that leaves them vulnerable to disturbance from grazing, mowing, and development on the same shortgrass prairie used by other raptors profiled in this look at eagles in Colorado. Winter often brings an influx of birds from farther north, so grassland reservoirs and wildlife refuges along the Front Range tend to be the most reliable viewing spots between November and March.
8. Northern Saw-whet Owl
Weighing barely more than a robin, the northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) is one of the smallest and most secretive owls in Colorado’s mountain forests. It has reddish-brown plumage with yellow eyes and gets its name from a distinctive call that sounds like a saw blade being sharpened.
Its diet is broader than its size suggests. The species mostly hunts small mammals like voles, mice, shrews, and rats in Colorado, but also feeds on significant amounts of insects such as beetles, moths, and other invertebrates like spiders, worms, and snails, especially when mammal populations are low. For readers curious about the eight-legged prey on that list, this guide to spiders in Colorado covers the species most likely to end up in a saw-whet’s pellet. Because it roosts quietly in dense conifer thickets during the day, most sightings happen only when a mobbing flock of chickadees gives away its location.
9. Great Horned Owl
The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) is the owl most Coloradans picture when they hear the word “owl.” It’s easily the largest owl in Colorado, unless you count the uncommon Snowy Owl, and it has a very wide range across North America, remaining a permanent resident throughout the lower 48 states, including Colorado. It’s easily recognized by its large size, prominent ear tufts, and yellow eyes.
This owl’s reputation as an apex nighttime predator is well earned. It’s the only bird known to regularly kill and eat skunks, and it’s also known to be an enemy of other raptors such as the Red-tailed Hawk. That fearlessness places it among the more formidable predators covered in this overview of dangerous animals in Colorado, even though great horned owls pose essentially no threat to people. Its deep, rhythmic hooting duet between mated pairs is often the first owl call new birders learn to recognize.
10. Snowy Owl
Few winter bird sightings generate as much excitement as a snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) showing up on Colorado’s eastern plains. This large, mostly white owl breeds on the Arctic tundra and only ventures this far south during irruption years, when prey shortages farther north push birds into unfamiliar territory. Colorado’s own resident owls rarely rival it in size, since the Snowy Owl is one of the only species that can outweigh the Great Horned Owl.
Sightings tend to cluster around open, treeless terrain that mimics tundra, such as airports, agricultural fields, and reservoir edges, since the bird instinctively seeks unobstructed sightlines for hunting. Similar irruptions bring the species into other northern-tier states, including the winter ranges detailed in this guide to owls in Maine. Because sightings are unpredictable from year to year, local birding hotlines and rare-bird alerts are usually the fastest way to learn about an active snowy owl in the state.
11. Northern Pygmy Owl
Don’t let the size fool you: the northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma) is barely larger than a sparrow but hunts birds close to its own body weight. False eyespots on the back of its head confuse potential attackers into thinking it’s watching them from behind, a trick that helps this diurnal hunter survive in mixed-conifer forest across the mountains. Rocky Mountain National Park is home to owls like the Boreal Owl and the Northern Pygmy Owl, making the park one of the more reliable places to look for both species in a single visit.
Conservation status here is worth noting: the burrowing owl and northern pygmy owl carry state threatened designations in Colorado, even though neither is listed federally. Its high-pitched, single-note toot repeated at a steady pace is often the giveaway that one is nearby, since the bird itself is easy to miss against pine bark.
12. Boreal Owl
The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) lives at the opposite end of the elevation spectrum from most Colorado owls, favoring dense spruce-fir forest above roughly 9,000 feet. Chocolate-brown with a pale, squared-off facial disc and a soft, unusually high call, it’s one of the hardest species on this list to actually see, largely because it roosts in tree cavities during the day and hunts almost exclusively at night. It shares Rocky Mountain National Park’s high country with the Northern Pygmy Owl, though the two rarely overlap much in elevation preference.
Winter is generally the best window for detection, when the species’ rolling, winnowing call carries through quiet, snow-muffled forest for long distances. Because boreal owl habitat sits at such high elevation, most confirmed Colorado records come from mountain passes and subalpine drainages rather than anywhere near towns or trailheads.
13. Mexican Spotted Owl (Spotted Owl)
The Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) is the rarest and most legally protected owl on this list. It can be found in Colorado, although it’s one of the most rarely seen owls in the state, living in forests and canyon areas and nesting on cliff ledges and canyon walls. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Mexican spotted owl as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1993, and later designated critical habitat for the species in 2004.
Within Colorado specifically, the species carries its own state-level classification. Colorado’s own state list places the Mexican spotted owl under State Threatened, Tier 2 status, reflecting the fragmented, patchy distribution the species shows across the Southwest’s canyon country. Anyone interested in the broader picture of vulnerable wildlife across the state can find more context in this list of endangered animals in Colorado.
Key Insight: “Threatened” and “endangered” aren’t interchangeable. Threatened means a species is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, while endangered means it’s already at serious risk of extinction. The Mexican Spotted Owl currently holds threatened status at both the federal and Colorado state level.
Spotting any of Colorado’s owls takes patience more than luck. Learning each species’ call is usually more productive than scanning trees with binoculars, since most of these birds are active at night and rely on plumage that blends in almost perfectly with bark, rock, or dry grass. For a broader look at owl species found outside the state, the general overview of different types of owls covers species that share close relatives with several of Colorado’s residents. Whether it’s a Barn Owl gliding over an irrigation ditch at dusk or a Boreal Owl calling from a snow-covered spruce grove, each of these 13 species adds something distinct to Colorado’s nighttime skies.