Field notes from a winter weekend of owling along the Yadkin and the Pisgah ridges.
Updated: 2026-05-20.
The short version: North Carolina has six regularly-occurring owl species and you’ll hear them more often than see them. Great Horned, Barred and Eastern Screech are common year-round residents across the state. Barn Owls are scarcer but still findable in farmland and along the Outer Banks. Short-eared Owls appear in winter on open coastal grasslands. Northern Saw-whet Owls turn up rarely in mountain conifer in winter. Learn the four common calls and you’ll find them all without buying a single piece of new kit.
The four common owls
1. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
North Carolina’s largest owl. Wingspan up to four feet, ear tufts, deep yellow eyes. The Carolina Bird Club species page confirms it’s the largest owl breeding in the state.
- Call: the classic deep “hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo” that everyone associates with the word “owl.” Heard year-round.
- Habitat: everything from old-growth Appalachian forest to suburban Charlotte yards.
- Behaviour: the most aggressive raptor in NC at the nest. Joggers and dog-walkers near nest trees in February-April have been documented being struck.
2. Barred Owl (Strix varia)
The most-encountered owl in NC. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s species page notes that Barred Owls adapt readily to urbanised landscapes that retain mature trees - parks, large gardens, wooded suburbs.
- Call: “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” - the eight-note phrase is unmistakable. Multiple birds calling at once sound like a troop of monkeys.
- Habitat: wet hardwood forest, river bottomland, cypress swamps. Now also in suburbs with mature trees.
- Behaviour: less aggressive than Great Horned. Sometimes seen during the day at roost.
3. Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)
Small, eared, cryptically plumaged. NC populations include both red morph and gray morph; the red morph predominates in the southeast.
- Call: descending whinny and even-pitched trill - not a screech despite the name.
- Habitat: woodland edge, parks, large gardens. Common throughout NC year-round.
- Behaviour: cavity nesters. Take to nest boxes readily. The most likely owl to live in a Charlotte or Raleigh backyard.
4. Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
The pale, heart-faced “ghost owl.” White below, golden buff above, no ear tufts. Coastal Review reports that Barn Owls are the scarcest of NC’s permanent owls, with collisions and rodenticide poisoning driving declines.
- Call: rasping screech rather than a hoot. Distinctive once you’ve heard it.
- Habitat: agricultural land, abandoned barns, coastal grasslands, Outer Banks dunes.
- Behaviour: strictly nocturnal. Will use a properly-sized nest box readily.
For the nesting setup specifically, see barn owl nesting.
The seasonal and scarce ones
Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
Winter visitor only, late October through March. Hunts in daylight as well as dusk over open grassland and coastal marshes. According to the North Carolina Bird Atlas owling guide, the best sites are coastal grasslands at Mattamuskeet, Pocosin Lakes, and the Outer Banks dunes.
Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)
Rare winter visitor to mountain conifer. Tiny (15 cm), highly cryptic, almost impossible to spot during the day. Most NC records come from autumn migration banding stations in the Blue Ridge.
Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)
Very rare winter visitor. Records sporadic; mostly in dense conifer plantations.
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
Exceptional winter visitor in irruption years. Last major NC irruption brought several to coastal beaches.
Where to look, by region
Mountains (Blue Ridge, Pisgah, Great Smokies):
- Great Horned year-round.
- Barred in mature hardwood coves.
- Eastern Screech in lower-elevation woodland.
- Northern Saw-whet rare in winter conifer.
Piedmont (Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro):
- Barred Owl most common - urban parks, river bottomland.
- Eastern Screech in suburbs with mature trees.
- Great Horned in larger forested patches.
Coastal plain & Outer Banks:
- Barn Owl in farmland and dunes.
- Great Horned everywhere.
- Short-eared in winter on open marsh and grassland.
- Barred in coastal swamps.
The NC Bird Atlas owling guide publishes seasonal protocols for citizen scientists - useful for anyone serious about owling.
How to find them
Owls are heard far more often than seen. The reliable approach:
- Learn the four common calls first. Once you know what to listen for, owls show up in places you never noticed.
- Go out at dusk or first light. Activity peaks 30 minutes either side of sunset and sunrise.
- Listen rather than walk. Sit still in suitable habitat and let the birds come to you.
- Don’t use playback to attract them. It causes territorial stress and habituates owls to humans - real ethical issue. Many NC parks ban it.
- Watch for crow mobs in daylight. Crows often locate roosting owls and harass them. See why crows attack hawks for the mobbing behaviour.
Setting up an owl box
If you want to attract a screech-owl or barn-owl to your NC property, see barn owl nesting and when to put up an owl box for the species-specific specs. The short version:
- Eastern Screech-Owl box: 4x4 inch floor, 3 inch entry hole, 10-12 inches deep, 10-15 ft mounting height.
- Barn Owl box: 24x16 inch floor, 6 inch entry hole, 18-20 inches deep, mounted on a barn beam or pole 12-20 ft up. Install by November.
For squirrel and raccoon defences on the pole, see how to keep squirrels out of an owl nest box.
For broader raptor context
- birds of prey - the species-level overview across diurnal and nocturnal raptors.
- are owls dangerous - the strike risk to humans (mostly nest defence by Great Horned).
- are owls bad luck - the folklore.
- owl eyes - the night-vision anatomy.
The field guide for the state
For NC birders, the Sibley Eastern guide covers every regularly-occurring owl with adult plumage and voice notes. Particularly strong on the Barred-vs-Great-Horned ID confusion that catches beginners out.
Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
The pocket reference for NC owl identification.
David Sibley's Eastern guide covers every NC owl with adult plumages, voice descriptions, and range notes. Strong on the subtle differences between Barred and Great Horned at distance, and on the Eastern Screech-Owl red/gray morph variation that confuses beginners.
- All Eastern North American owl species
- Multiple plumages including immature
- Voice descriptions (essential for nocturnal ID)
- Pocket-sized softcover
Sibley · Eastern
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The bottom line
Six owl species occur in NC, four of them common. Great Horned hoots, Barred says “who cooks for you,” Eastern Screech trills, Barn Owl screeches. Learn those four calls and the rest of the state’s owl fauna falls into place. The Mountains, Piedmont and Coastal Plain each have their own owl signature - a weekend split between any two regions will reliably get you three or four species heard, with luck two seen.
Sources
- NC Wildlife Resources Commission: Barred Owl species page
- Carolina Bird Club: Great Horned Owl
- Coastal Review: Coastal Owls: Mysterious, Misunderstood
- North Carolina Bird Atlas: Atlas Guide to Owling
- Cornell Lab All About Birds: Barred Owl
