page_title: List of birds of Massachusetts
section_title: Owls
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of Massachusetts / Owls
context_page_description: This list of birds of Massachusetts includes species documented in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and accepted by the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee. As of September 2019, there are 504 species included in the official list. Of them, 179 are on the review list, six have been introduced to North America, three are extinct, and one has been extirpated. An additional eight species are on a supplemental list of birds whose origin is uncertain.
  This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 61st Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society. Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
  Unless otherwise noted, all species listed below are considered to occur regularly in Massachusetts as permanent residents, summer or winter visitors, or migrants. The following codes are used to denote categories of species:
  Nesting - confirmed nesting records within Massachusetts
  Extralimital nester - record of nesting, but recorded only once or twice
context_section_description: Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae
  Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak, and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk. Eleven species have been recorded in Massachusetts.
  Eastern screech-owl, Megascops asio (n)
  Great horned owl, Bubo virginianus (n)
  Snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus
  Northern hawk owl, Surnia ulula (R)
  Burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia (R)
  Barred owl, Strix varia (n)
  Great gray owl, Strix nebulosa (R)
  Long-eared owl, Asio otus (n)
  Short-eared owl, Asio flammeus (n)
  Boreal owl, Aegolius funereus (R)
  Northern saw-whet owl, Aegolius acadicus (n)
caption: Eastern screech-owl
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