Types of Owls in Georgia: All 9 Species and Where to Find Them
September 29, 2026
Georgia is home to nine types of owls, ranging from backyard regulars that hoot from suburban oak trees to Arctic wanderers that show up only once a decade. Some, like the Eastern Screech-Owl, nest in the same neighborhood tree year after year. Others, like the Snowy Owl, are so rare in the state that a single sighting can make local birding news.
This guide walks through all nine species confirmed in Georgia, covering what each owl looks like, where it lives, and how likely a birder is to actually see one. For readers who want a broader look at owl diversity beyond the Peach State, the different types of owls found across North America offer useful context for comparison.
Pro Tip: Owls are most active at dawn and dusk. Visit forested edges near open fields or water at these times and listen before looking — most owls are heard long before they’re seen.
1. Barn Owl
The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is instantly recognizable by its pale, heart-shaped face and dark eyes set against white plumage. Barn Owls are the most widespread land birds in the world, with as many as thirty-five subspecies found on every continent except Antarctica and the Saharan desert, and their white heart-shaped faces and contrasting dark eyes make them one of the most recognizable owls, with upperparts that combine gray, brown, and red tones.
In Georgia, this owl favors open country over deep forest. Barn owls live in agricultural areas of northern and southern Georgia counties, and this abundant bird is the most widely distributed owl species on Earth. It hunts low over pastures and hayfields, relying on sound alone to pinpoint rodents moving through grass, since its lopsided ear openings let it triangulate prey in complete darkness.
Georgia residents can observe the Barn Owl in northern and southern parts of the state year-round. It’s also one of just four owls that live in Georgia every month of the year rather than passing through on migration. Four species of owls live in Georgia year-round: the Great Horned, Barred, Barn, and Eastern Screech-Owl, listed from largest to smallest. Readers curious how this species compares to populations elsewhere can check the types of owls in Louisiana, where Barn Owls occupy similar farmland habitat.
2. Barred Owl
Few sounds in a Georgia swamp are as distinctive as the Barred Owl’s call. The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. The species (Strix varia) has soulful dark eyes, a rounded head with no ear tufts, and a facial disc that looks almost like a figure-eight.
Physically, this owl is hard to confuse with anything else in the state. The Barred Owl is a medium to large owl with a round head and a narrow black border on its pale gray face, with dark brown upperparts marked in white and dark brown streaks on its belly. It measures between 16 and 25 inches long and has a 38- to 49-inch wingspan.
Barred Owls stick close to water. They favor deciduous woods and evergreen or coniferous forests around the state, roosting inside tree cavities when they aren’t hunting. Their diet is varied, including reptiles, grouse, rabbits, and any small mammal they can catch. Despite their size, Barred Owls have one natural enemy to watch for: the Great Horned Owl is the most serious predatory threat to the Barred Owl, and a Barred Owl will typically move to another part of its territory when a Great Horned Owl moves in nearby. For more detail on field marks and vocalizations, the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds guide offers extensive range maps and audio recordings. The species also turns up well north of Georgia, as covered in this state’s types of owls in Maine guide.
3. Burrowing Owl
The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) looks like no other owl on this list. Long-legged, ground-dwelling, and active by day as often as by night, it stands out among Georgia’s owls simply by breaking the nocturnal stereotype. Its plumage is a mix of mottled brown, white, and sandy tan, with a barred pattern on the belly and breast and striking bright yellow eyes topped by white eyebrows.
Key Insight: Unlike most owls, Burrowing Owls nest underground in abandoned mammal burrows rather than tree cavities, and they’re just as likely to be spotted standing at a burrow entrance at midday as at dusk.
This species is far more common in the western United States than in Georgia, where confirmed records are scarce and largely limited to open, sparsely vegetated ground such as airfields or agricultural edges. Because of its rarity here, any sighting is considered notable among Georgia birders and worth reporting to state wildlife trackers. Readers interested in Georgia’s rarer wildlife can also browse the state’s list of endangered animals in Georgia for related conservation context, since small ground-nesting insects that make up part of this owl’s diet, including many types of beetles in Georgia, share the same open-ground habitat.
4. Eastern Screech-Owl
The Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) holds the title of the state’s most familiar owl. The Eastern screech-owl is Georgia’s most common owl, living comfortably in both rural and suburban areas as long as open woodlands or backyards with mature trees are nearby, and in rural locations it may range over 75 to 100 acres. Its small size and short, stocky body make it easy to overlook despite how often it’s actually nearby.
Georgia’s screech-owls come in two distinct looks. Screech owls have two color phases, red or gray, and in Georgia most screech owls are gray, though red birds predominate farther north. Standing only about 8 inches tall, these tiny birds look like miniature Great Horned Owls.
Diet-wise, this owl isn’t picky. The Eastern Screech-Owl eats earthworms, lizards, frogs, tadpoles, crayfish, and any other small mammal it can catch. Its menu also leans heavily on insects, which links it to prey items covered in the guide to types of moths in Georgia, a staple food source during warmer months.
Nesting habits reveal a species that takes shortcuts wherever possible. Nests are often built in abandoned woodpecker cavities, since screech-owls never excavate their own, and they add no nesting material, laying two to six white eggs directly on whatever debris sits at the bottom of the cavity. Life in the nest can be brutal: young screech-owls may fight to the death over food, a behavior known as siblicide.
Survival odds for young owls are grim before they even leave the nest. Mortality rates of young and nestling owls may run as high as 70 percent, with opossums, raccoons, skunks, snakes, crows, and Blue Jays among the most common predators at screech-owl nests. For official identification photos and nest box plans, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources maintains a dedicated species page, while the Intown Hawk blog documents predator interactions in more detail.
5. Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is Georgia’s largest and most powerful owl. This big, bulky brown or gray owl has ear tufts and fine barring on its underparts, nests in old stick nests built by other large birds or on ledges, and watches from a perch or glides over open habitat at night to catch mammals and some birds on the ground.
Its grip is famous among wildlife rehabbers for good reason. The talons and grip of this species are so strong that once closed, 28 pounds of pressure are needed to open them. That force lets a Great Horned Owl take prey far larger than owls typically manage, including skunks, other raptors, and even small dogs left unattended outdoors.
Unlike some of the rarer species on this list, Great Horned Owls are dependable residents. This owl is found all year round in Georgia, making deciduous forests its home, roosting during the day since its markings provide excellent camouflage before it hunts larger animals at night. As the top nighttime predator in most Georgia woodlands, it shares territory with other raptors covered in the guide to types of vultures in Georgia, birds that scavenge many of the same rural landscapes.
6. Long-eared Owl
The Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) is one of the least-seen owls in Georgia, and for good reason: it’s a secretive winter visitor rather than a year-round resident. Slim-bodied with tall, close-set ear tufts and a rusty facial disc, it looks almost cat-like when perched upright against a tree trunk.
This owl roosts communally during colder months, often gathering in small groups inside dense conifer stands where thick cover breaks the wind and hides them from mobbing songbirds. Georgia sits at the southern edge of its winter range, so records here are scattered and typically concentrated in the northern part of the state. Birders who want to compare notes on this species farther north can check the types of owls in Minnesota, where Long-eared Owls are found with more regularity.
7. Northern Saw-whet Owl
Georgia’s smallest owl is also one of its most elusive. The largest owls in Georgia are Great Horned Owls, while the smallest are Northern Saw-whet Owls. This species (Aegolius acadicus) is barely larger than a robin, with a disproportionately large head, yellow eyes, and no ear tufts.
What it lacks in size, it makes up for in hunting precision. This owl has a unique way of locating prey accurately: its ears are asymmetrical, which allows sound to reach each ear at a different time and lets the owl pinpoint prey in total darkness with almost no chance of error.
Spotting one in Georgia takes patience and good timing. The Northern Saw-whet Owl can be found in Georgia’s forests, but the odds improve during migration season when it searches for a new home, and one of the easiest ways to locate it is by listening for songbirds giving alarm calls when the owl is nearby. Bigger birds of prey, especially Great Horned Owls and Cooper’s Hawks, are its main predators. The Bird Watching Pro field guide covers additional identification tips for spotting this owl during fall migration. This species also winters as far west as the types of owls in California, giving Georgia birders a useful point of comparison.
8. Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) breaks two owl stereotypes at once: it barely has visible ear tufts, and it hunts in daylight almost as readily as at night. Mottled brown and buff overall, it has a moth-like, buoyant flight style low over open ground that makes it distinctive even at a distance.
In Georgia, this owl is a scarce winter visitor rather than a breeder, showing up in open grasslands, marshes, and reclaimed agricultural fields where vole populations run high. Because it hunts by coursing low over open terrain rather than perching and waiting, it’s often mistaken for a harrier hawk before its rounded owl face gives it away. Open-country species like this share habitat with ground-feeding birds featured in the guide to types of doves in Georgia, another group tied to farmland and grassy edges.
9. Snowy Owl
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is the rarest entry on this list by a wide margin. A true Arctic tundra breeder, this large white owl only strays as far south as Georgia during irregular “irruption” winters, when food shortages farther north push individuals, usually young birds, far outside their normal range.
Important Note: A Snowy Owl sighting in Georgia is rare enough to be considered a significant birding event. Confirmed records are typically documented and shared through state birding networks rather than being a predictable annual occurrence.
Males are nearly pure white, while females and young birds carry dark barring across the body. Because Snowy Owls evolved to hunt in wide-open, treeless terrain, any individual that does wander into Georgia tends to favor large open fields, airports, or coastal dunes that mimic tundra conditions rather than the state’s typical forested habitat.
Comparing Georgia’s Nine Owl Species
Size, status, and preferred habitat vary widely across these nine species. The table below summarizes the basics for quick reference.
| Owl Species | Size in Georgia | Status in Georgia | Typical Habitat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barn Owl | Medium | Year-round resident | Farmland, open pastures |
| Barred Owl | Large | Year-round resident | Wet deciduous and mixed forest |
| Burrowing Owl | Small | Very rare, accidental | Open, bare ground |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | Small | Year-round resident, most common | Woodlands, suburban trees |
| Great Horned Owl | Very large | Year-round resident | All forest types |
| Long-eared Owl | Medium | Rare winter visitor | Dense conifer roosts |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | Very small | Uncommon, migratory | Mixed and coniferous forest |
| Short-eared Owl | Medium | Scarce winter visitor | Open grassland, marsh |
| Snowy Owl | Large | Extremely rare, irruptive | Open fields, coastal dunes |
Four of these species share Georgia year-round, while the remaining five appear seasonally or only during rare weather-driven movements south. For anyone building a broader backyard wildlife checklist, comparing owls against other resident predators like the types of falcons in Georgia shows how the state’s raptor community divides up hunting territory between day and night shifts.
Final Thoughts on Finding Georgia’s Owls
Most owl encounters in Georgia come down to patience and timing rather than luck. The four year-round residents, Barn, Barred, Great Horned, and Eastern Screech-Owl, offer the best odds for a first sighting, while the remaining five reward birders who track migration timing and winter irruption reports closely. Listening at dusk near mature woodlands or open farmland remains the single most reliable strategy for connecting with any of these nine species.