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Snowy Owls in North Dakota

Snowy owl reports in North Dakota winter by winter, adjusted for the growth of iNaturalist, with this winter read live and the latest report date.

Reports, winter 2025-26
2
Index, winter 2025-26
0.4x
Reports, 12 winters
43
This winter

Snowy owl reports in North Dakota this winter

Winter 2026-27 so far

Reading this winter’s reports for North Dakota from iNaturalist.

Looking up the latest research grade snowy owl report for North Dakota.

North Dakota holds more wintering owls than its record suggests: the open prairie and wheat country is ideal habitat, but so few observers cover it that each report stands for many birds.

Winter by winter

Twelve winters of snowy owls in North Dakota

Measured against everything birders reported, the biggest winter in the North Dakota record is 2019-20: 8 research grade reports, 3.2x an ordinary winter. Each winter runs November 1 to March 31, and its rate is snowy owl reports per 10,000 bird reports for the state, so the rising number of people on iNaturalist does not read as more owls.

Research grade snowy owl reports on iNaturalist for North Dakota, November 1 to March 31, newest winter first. Each bar is the irruption index, the thin line marks 1.0x, an ordinary winter, and the number in brackets is the count of reports.
When

When snowy owls are reported in North Dakota

Snowy owl

45 research grade snowy owl observations uploaded to iNaturalist for North Dakota since July 2014, by calendar month, with November to March shaded. Reports usually begin and peak in November; December to February holds 53 percent of them. Counts of what people reported, so they follow observers as well as owls.

Where

Where snowy owls winter in North Dakota

Snowy owls look for country that resembles the tundra: flat, open and treeless, with a low perch to hunt from. In North Dakota that means:

  • wheat stubble
  • native prairie
  • open rangeland
A white snowy owl with dark flecks sitting on a grassy hummock on brown open tundra under a pale grey sky
A snowy owl on its breeding tundra, the landscape every wintering owl is matching when it settles on a field, a dune or the grass beside a runway. “Snowy owl (51101442402)”, USFWSAlaska, Public domain
The winter cast

Winter finches and northern raptors in North Dakota

The northern birds with at least 25 winter reports in the North Dakota record, and how each came in last winter against its own other winters. The Winter Finch Forecast from the Finch Research Network reads the northern crops each autumn.

Winter birds from the north in North Dakota: research grade reports in winter 2025-26 and the index against the other eleven winters.
SpeciesReportsIndexStanding
Redpoll00.0xquiet
Pine siskin00.0xquiet
White-winged crossbill00.0xquiet
Rough-legged hawk20.5xquiet
Northern shrike20.8xtypical

  • Redpoll

    Birch and alder catkins, and nyjer at feeders.

    When the northern birch seed crop fails, flocks come south, and big flights have tended to come every other winter.

  • Pine siskin

    Small conifer seeds, alder and birch, and nyjer at feeders.

    A nomad on conifer seed that settles wherever the cones are good, so it can be abundant one winter and scarce the next.

  • White-winged crossbill

    Spruce and tamarack seed.

    Moves south only when the boreal spruce crop fails, so years pass between good winters for it.

  • Rough-legged hawk

    Voles and other small rodents, hunted by hovering over open fields.

    A regular winter visitor from the Arctic whose numbers rise and fall with the rodent cycles in its breeding range.

  • Northern shrike

    Voles and small birds, sometimes cached on thorns.

    A songbird that hunts like a small hawk, coming south in larger numbers when prey in the north is scarce.

Watching

How to watch a snowy owl in North Dakota

  • Keep about 100 yards away. A snowy owl in winter is resting between hunts and every flush costs it energy it may not have. If it turns to stare, stands up or flies, back off. Binoculars, a scope or a long lens close the distance instead.
  • Stay in the car. On farm roads and at airport edges the car works as a blind; an owl that ignores a parked vehicle will leave when a person steps out. Pull fully off the road and keep to public roads outside fences.
  • Let the owl hunt its own food. Baited owls learn to fly low toward people and cars, which draws them onto roads and runways where collisions kill them.
  • Leave the calls at home. Recorded calls and imitations pull owls off their hunting perches and add stress in the hardest season of the year.
  • Share sightings at the state level. An owl that holds one field for weeks draws crowds once its spot is posted; the state and the date are plenty for the record.

Guidance from Project SNOWstorm and Audubon Great Lakes.

Wildlife in North Dakota is managed by North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Elsewhere

Snowy owl reports in other states

Questions about snowy owls in North Dakota

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade observation counts for North Dakota on iNaturalist, with the live winter and latest report date read from the same source. Counts are uploads by the public, adjusted by all bird uploads for the state in the same window.

Winter eagle watchingThe same cold months on open water, where ice concentrates bald eagles.Fall migration in North DakotaCranes, geese and hawks on the way south, the season before the owls arrive.Is this an irruption winter?The national index this winter against the last twelve, and every state side by side.