Where Do Great Horned Owls Actually Live in the US?

Great Horned Owls live in 47 US states and are confirmed absent from 1 more, based on 1,446,551 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.

By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.

The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California and Colorado, and 41 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.

Great Horned Owls have zero confirmed wild sightings in Hawaii, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.

Confirmed states (47)

Not found (1)

Hawaii

Frequently asked questions

What states do great horned owls live in?+

Great Horned Owls have confirmed wild populations in 47 US states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Where are great horned owls not found in the US?+

Great Horned Owls have no confirmed wild sightings in Hawaii.

Full great horned owls guides by state