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Snowy Owls in Texas

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

Reports, winter 2025-26
0
Index, winter 2025-26
Rare visitor
Reports, 12 winters
48
This winter

Snowy owl reports in Texas this winter

Winter 2026-27 so far

Reading this winter’s reports for Texas from iNaturalist.

Looking up the latest research grade snowy owl report for Texas.

Texas records come almost entirely from the 2017-18 flight, when owls pushed unusually far south onto the northern plains and panhandle; most Texas winters carry no report at all.

Winter by winter

Twelve winters of snowy owls in Texas

Measured against everything birders reported, the biggest winter in the Texas record is 2017-18: 47 research grade reports. 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 Texas, November 1 to March 31, newest winter first. Each bar is the count of reports, with the irruption index beside it where the state has an ordinary winter to compare against.
When

When snowy owls are reported in Texas

Snowy owl

48 research grade snowy owl observations uploaded to iNaturalist for Texas since July 2014, by calendar month, with November to March shaded. Reports usually begin and peak in January; December to February holds 98 percent of them. Counts of what people reported, so they follow observers as well as owls.

Where

Where snowy owls winter in Texas

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

  • panhandle plains
  • open farmland
  • reservoir shorelines
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 Texas

The northern birds with at least 25 winter reports in the Texas 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 Texas: research grade reports in winter 2025-26 and the index against the other eleven winters.
SpeciesReportsIndexStanding
Evening grosbeak0raremost winters have none
Pine siskin560.3xquiet
Red crossbill00.0xquiet
Rough-legged hawk20.1xquiet
Northern shrike00.0xquiet

  • Evening grosbeak

    Large tree seeds, especially box elder and maple, and sunflower at feeders.

    Flights south follow poor seed crops in the boreal forest, and spruce budworm outbreaks in the north have fed a recovery in numbers.

  • 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.

  • Red crossbill

    Seeds prised from closed conifer cones with a crossed bill.

    Several call types each specialise on different conifers and wander to wherever their cone crop is heavy.

  • 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 Texas

  • 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 Texas is managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Elsewhere

Snowy owl reports in other states

Questions about snowy owls in Texas

Compiled 2026-09-22 from research grade observation counts for Texas 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 TexasCranes, 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.