Owling Guide: How to Find and Observe Owls

Owling is birding after dark, and it requires a completely different approach than daytime birding. You are searching for birds that are designed to be invisible and silent. You are working in darkness, relying on your ears more than your eyes. And you are doing it in the same woods and fields that feel perfectly normal during the day but take on a different character at night.

It is also some of the most exciting birding you can do.

Hearing a Great Horned Owl call from the darkness or catching a Barn Owl in a flashlight beam is unforgettable. Here is how to get started.

Know What to Listen For

Most owling success starts with your ears. Owls call to defend territory and attract mates, and each species has a distinctive vocalization.

Great Horned Owl: The classic hoo-hoo-hooooo-hoo-hoo.

Deep, resonant, and far-carrying. This is probably the owl you hear most often in suburban and rural areas across North America.

Barred Owl: "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" A loud, distinctive eight-note call that is easy to learn and identify.

Eastern Screech-Owl: A descending whinny or a long, monotone trill. Small owl, surprisingly loud.

Common in neighborhoods with mature trees.

Western Screech-Owl: A bouncing-ball call that accelerates at the end, like a ping-pong ball bouncing to a stop.

Barn Owl: A blood-curdling shriek that sounds nothing like what you expect an owl to sound like. If you hear something screaming in the night and it is not a fox, it might be a Barn Owl.

Learn these calls before you go out.

Play recordings at home so your brain recognizes them in the field. The Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab has excellent recordings and can even identify calls in real time through your phone's microphone.

When to Go

Owling is most productive during breeding season, which varies by species and region. Great Horned Owls start nesting as early as December in many areas, making midwinter an excellent time to hear them calling.

Barred Owls are vocal from February through April. Screech-Owls call throughout much of the year but are most vocal in early spring.

The best time of night is the first two hours after sunset and the hour before dawn. Owl activity tends to peak during these transition periods. Full moon nights provide slightly more ambient light, which some people find helpful, though owls are not necessarily more vocal on bright nights.

Calm, clear nights with little wind are ideal. Wind makes it difficult to hear calls and creates background noise from rustling leaves that masks owl vocalizations.

Rain and heavy wind are not worth going out in.

Where to Look

Great Horned Owls are habitat generalists found in forests, suburbs, parks, and agricultural areas. Barred Owls prefer mature forests with large trees, especially near water. Screech-Owls occupy woodlots, suburban neighborhoods, and orchards. Barn Owls hunt open grasslands and agricultural fields and roost in barns, church steeples, and tree cavities.

Daytime scouting helps.

Look for whitewash (owl droppings) on tree trunks and below potential roost sites. Owl pellets on the ground under a tree indicate a regular roosting spot. Flocks of crows or jays mobbing a spot in a dense tree often indicate a roosting owl.

Ethics of Owling

This is important. Playback (playing recorded owl calls to attract owls) is a controversial technique. Used sparingly and responsibly, it can help locate birds.

Used excessively, it can stress birds, disrupt breeding, and habituate them to human presence in ways that make them vulnerable.

Guidelines for ethical playback:

• Never use playback in areas where it is prohibited (many parks and refuges ban it).
• Keep playback sessions short, no more than a few minutes.
• Stop immediately once a bird responds.
• Never use playback near active nest sites.
• Do not use playback for rare or endangered species.
• If multiple groups are owling the same area, coordinate to avoid repeated disturbance.

Many experienced owlers prefer to find owls by simply listening rather than using playback.

Walking slowly and quietly through good habitat, pausing to listen every few minutes, is a low-impact approach that rewards patience.

Gear for Owling

A headlamp with a red light mode preserves your night vision while giving you enough light to walk safely. A flashlight with a red filter works similarly. Red light does not disturb owls as much as white light, and it keeps your eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Dress warmly. You will be standing still in the dark, which gets cold fast even on mild nights. Layers are essential. Bring a thermos of something warm if you plan to be out for more than an hour.

Binoculars are useful if you locate an owl and have enough ambient light to see it. On very dark nights, they may not help much. Some owlers carry a spotlight to briefly illuminate an owl once located by call, but use it sparingly and never shine it directly into the bird's face.

Owling changes your relationship with the outdoors. You start noticing sounds you previously tuned out. You become aware of the nocturnal world that exists alongside the daytime one. And the first time you lock eyes with a wild owl by flashlight, the whole experience becomes addictive in the best possible way.