Virginia’s forests, marshes, and farmland shelter far more owls than most residents realize. According to Bird Advisors, eight of the nineteen owl species found in North America occur in Virginia, and six of those show up regularly enough that birders can plan a search around them. The remaining species are rare visitors, including one bird that has touched down in the state exactly once.
Understanding the types of owls in Virginia means separating the year-round residents from the winter visitors and the true vagrants. This guide walks through all nine confirmed species, from the barn owl roosting in an old silo to the burrowing owl that made a single, brief, and ultimately tragic appearance in 1994. For a broader look at owl diversity beyond the Commonwealth, the different types of owls found across North America offer useful context for comparison.
1. Barn Owl
The barn owl (Tyto alba) is one of four species that nests in Virginia year-round, alongside the great horned, barred, and Eastern screech-owl. Virginia DWR confirms that
Virginia DWR’s research found that barn owls are almost entirely dependent on artificial structures for nesting. Biologist Jeff Cooper notes that old barns, abandoned buildings, church steeples, bridges, and tunnels have long served as substitutes for natural cavities, though modern tank-style silos without open ledges are replacing the barns owls once relied on.
Because of their declining population, the state lists the barn owl as a “Tier III, Species of Greatest Conservation Need” in its Wildlife Action Plan. Residents of Fauquier, Loudoun, and Rappahannock counties have the best odds of spotting one, since Barn Owls prefer open farmland habitat. Anyone tracking the broader picture of at-risk species can find more context on the endangered animals in Virginia page.
Pro Tip: Barn owls hunt almost entirely by sound, so listen for a raspy screech rather than a hoot near open fields at dusk.
2. Eastern Screech Owl
The Eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) ranks among the most frequently encountered owls in the state, though its camouflage makes it easy to miss. The Eastern Screech Owl is an expert in camouflage, and its feathers allow it to easily blend in with hollow trunks and tree bark. The average length is 8.5 inches, and its weight is six ounces, with a reddish-brown color, though some individuals are gray.
Despite the name, the name comes from their call, which is a screeching noise rather than a true hoot. These small owls adapt readily to backyards, parks, and orchards, hunting insects, small rodents, and occasionally amphibians found near wooded edges. Readers curious about the amphibians that share this habitat can check the types of frogs in Virginia.
At the Wildlife Center of Virginia, located in Waynesboro, screech owls are the most common injured owl brought in, though the center also cares for barred, barn, and great horned owls. That intake pattern reflects how common the species is across the Commonwealth compared with its rarer relatives.
3. Great Horned Owl
The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) is a yellow-eyed species named for its prominent ear tufts and ranks among North America’s largest owls. The great horned owl is a yellow-eyed species named for its ear tufts and is one of North America’s largest owls, and Great Horned Owls are among the most common owls across North America, including Virginia, where they are year-round residents across the state.
Great horned owls sit at the top of the state’s nocturnal food chain. The larger owls prey on the smaller ones—Great Horned Owls take Barred Owls, and Barred Owls take Eastern Screech Owls. That hierarchy makes the great horned owl a useful reference point for anyone comparing Virginia’s raptors, including the types of eagles in Virginia that occupy a similar apex position among daytime hunters.
4. Barred Owl
Often called the “hoot owl” for its distinctive call, the barred owl is one of the four species that nest year round in Virginia, along with the eastern screech owl, barn owl, and great horned owl. In northern Virginia specifically, residents are likely to see three species of owls: Barred Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, and Great Horned Owl.
Barred owls favor mature deciduous and mixed forests, though they range into forest edges and large parks with old-growth trees when hunting. Their diet overlaps with the smaller screech owl’s, which explains the predator-prey relationship documented among Virginia’s resident species. Homeowners near wooded creeks sometimes mistake a barred owl’s call for something stranger before realizing it belongs to one of the state’s most familiar nocturnal residents.
5. Long-Eared Owl
The long-eared owl (Asio otus) is a genuinely rare find in Virginia, and one memorable sighting illustrates just how uncommon it is. At Blandy Experimental Farm in 2015, Judy Masi heard some “little birds going crazy,” and her husband, Dr. David Carr, Blandy Director, soon learned that the birds were aroused by an unexpected visitor, a long-eared owl perched in a dense arborvitae near a building.
The “Blandy” owl, presumably the same bird, returned the winter of 2016-17. Carr described the encounter as exceptional: “It is extremely rare to find this bird in Virginia. We’re at the southern limit of where it winters in the East. It is an extremely secretive bird, highly nocturnal, and picks roosts hard to find.”
The population trend behind that rarity is stark. Long-eared owl populations have fallen an estimated 91 percent in North America since 1970, according to Partners in Flight. Birders hoping to compare notes with another state’s records can look at the types of owls in Maine, where this species is similarly scarce at the southern edge of its wintering range.
6. Short-Eared Owl
The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is unusual among Virginia’s owls because it hunts in daylight rather than strictly at night. Short-eared owls are uncommon to rare in Virginia, but are known to breed here. Heavily streaked overall with a whitish face and yellow eyes outlined in black, they are 13-16 inches long and weigh seven to eight ounces, and prefer open areas like marshes, meadows, and fields, hunting during daylight low over the ground.
The best-documented locations for spotting one include the UVA’s Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, Tazewell, Culpeper and Orange counties, and DWR’s Saxis Wildlife Management Area on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. That marsh-and-field habitat overlaps with several species covered in the types of water birds in Virginia guide, since both groups depend on the same wetland edges.
Important Note: Short-eared owls are ground nesters, which makes them vulnerable to disturbance during breeding season. Observers should keep a respectful distance in known nesting areas.
7. Northern Saw-Whet Owl
Despite its reputation, the Eastern screech-owl is not Virginia’s smallest owl. When it comes to Virginia’s owls, the Eastern Screech-Owl is often thought of as our smallest species, but that distinction really belongs to the Northern Saw-whet Owl. The northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) measures just seven to eight inches in length and weighs two to five ounces, with bright yellow eyes and a cat-like face.
Breeding records for this species remain sparse. The first confirmed nesting record in Virginia was obtained during the first Breeding Bird Atlas when a check of a Northern Flying Squirrel nest box by DWR biologists on Clinch Mountain Wildlife Management Area in late March 1989 revealed two Saw-whet eggs. A more focused effort followed years later: the Virginia Society of Ornithology focused its annual Foray in 2006 specifically on Saw-whet surveys in mid-April to early June, and a total of 16 owls were detected in various counties west of the Blue Ridge.
The species carries the state’s highest conservation priority. Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan lists them as a Tier I, Species of Greatest Conservation Need. As Jay Martin of the Blue Ridge Discovery Center put it, “Not a lot is known about it in this range, this far south.” Anyone comparing saw-whet populations across their range might also explore the types of owls in Minnesota, closer to the core of the species’ breeding territory.
8. Snowy Owl
The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) belongs in Virginia’s rarest category, appearing only under specific conditions far from its usual range. Typically a resident of the high Arctic tundra, the Snowy Owl appears in Virginia only during rare “irruption” years, when a shortage of prey on their northern breeding grounds forces them far south, and these magnificent white owls are often spotted along the coast or in large open fields during winter, drawing dedicated birders from across the region.
Because irruptions depend entirely on Arctic prey cycles, sightings can go years without repeating, then suddenly cluster in a single winter. Owl enthusiasts tracking irruptive species across the country may find similar patterns worth comparing in the types of owls in Indiana, another state that occasionally hosts winter snowy owl visitors.
9. Burrowing Owl (rare vagrant, recorded once in 1994)
The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) stands apart from every other species on this list, since Virginia has documented it exactly once. This small, long-legged owl is normally described as a small, long-legged owl of open grassy habitats, appearing brown at a distance with irregular white spotting and yellow eyes that typically nests in a burrow dug by a prairie dog or similar animal.
Burrowing owls generally reside much further to the south and west, and are thus considered a vagrant species in Virginia, having only been recorded once in the state in recent decades, way back in January 1994. The record has a somber footnote: this individual was killed by a vehicle strike soon after its discovery.
Burrowing Owls are considered an accidental species in Virginia, and according to records, they have unfortunately not been spotted here for a long time. For readers curious how a species so tied to prairie habitat might turn up so far outside its normal range, the types of owls in Louisiana offer a look at a state where burrowing owls appear with far more regularity.
| Species | Status in Virginia | Typical Length | Typical Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barn Owl | Year-round resident, Tier III conservation concern | ~14–20 in | ~14–25 oz |
| Eastern Screech Owl | Common year-round resident | 8.5 in | 6 oz |
| Great Horned Owl | Common year-round resident | 18–25 in | 2–5.5 lbs |
| Barred Owl | Common year-round resident | 17–20 in | 1.1–2.3 lbs |
| Long-Eared Owl | Rare winter visitor | ~14 in | 7–15 oz |
| Short-Eared Owl | Uncommon to rare, occasional breeder | 13–16 in | 7–8 oz |
| Northern Saw-Whet Owl | Rare breeder, Tier I conservation concern | 7–8 in | 2–5 oz |
| Snowy Owl | Rare irruptive winter visitor | 20–28 in | 3.5–6.5 lbs |
| Burrowing Owl | Accidental vagrant, one record (1994) | ~10 in | 5–8.5 oz |
Taken together, these nine species show how varied owl life can be within a single state. Some, like the barred and great horned owl, are dependable year-round neighbors that most Virginians have heard without realizing it. Others, like the long-eared and burrowing owl, represent the kind of rare encounter that keeps birders checking their local sightings boards.
Anyone building a broader picture of Virginia’s wildlife can pair this list with a look at the animals native to Virginia, which places these owls alongside the mammals, reptiles, and other birds that share the same forests and fields. Whichever species turns up in a backyard or on a night hike, each one adds to the picture of why the Commonwealth remains a genuinely productive place to watch for owls.