The Owl Research Institute

Dedicated to owl conservation through research and education

Watch Owls Live: Owls 24/7 on Explore.org cameras

Each year, we partner with Explore.org, an arm of the Annenberg Foundation, to share some of our local wildlife and the iconic landscape of Northwest Montana's Mission Valley through Live Cams.

The cameras are active and streaming live online 24/7. By day, you can view the scene in color - by night, infrared. These cameras have given us an ability to learn more about breeding behavior of owls and Osprey.

Download Explore App Here

LEARN MORE HERE

A white man, Denver Holt, sits on the ground next to a snowy owl nest. A male snowy owl is swooping in to attack him.

Research

We conduct long-term research on owls, their prey species, and their relationship to the habitat in which they live.

ORI's Research Projects

Publications

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Education

ORI engages and educates a global audience through our annual newsletter, live cams, social media, articles, field tours, online and live presentations, and more.

Owl ID Guide

Live Cams

Educational Outreach

A northern saw-whet owl sticks its head out of a cavity in a tree.

Conservation

We provide partners, such as federal and state agencies, private conservation groups, and land owners, with vital information to promote meaningful and informed habitat management.

Owl Conservation

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Research Projects That Need Your Support

Thanks to you, the Owl Research Institute maintains long-term research on 10 owl species in Montana and Alaska. Our research is a critical step in understanding how to effectively preserve a future for owls.

Featured here are some of our priority projects in need of funding. Choose a project to support or make a general donation that will be applied where it is needed the most.

Climate Change and Snowy Owls

Understanding why populations are declining is the first step toward remedies.

Learn More

a great gray owl adult and chick in a snag nest

Great Gray Owls & Snag Data for Forest Management

Snags are a critical component of forest ecosystems and provide homes for a myriad of species. Again and again, we find them removed from otherwise ideal Great Gray habitat.

Learn More

Taking the Long-View on Long-Eared Owls

With significantly declining populations, our long-term research and monitoring is critical to our understanding of the bigger picture.

Learn More

Recent News

Mar 4

ORI's Raptor Survey Highlighted by MTPR: Montana's Public Radio, Since Then, We Have Broken Our Record of Most Raptors Counted in One Day

Montana Public Radio came out with us on the January Raptor Survey and recorded this piece that aired on MTPR on March 3rd, 2025

Nov 15, 2024

Saw-Whet Banding Station Season Wrap-up

An amazing season with 210 Saw-Whet owls and 2 Boreal Owls banded and were able to introduce over 150 people to the wonders of wild owls

Oct 25, 2024

SoCal Snowy Owl Short Documentary Received the Audience Award for Best Short Documentary at the 25th Anniversary Newport Beach Film Festival

December 2024 "SoCal Snowy Owl," a short human interest documentary, debuted at Newport Beach Film Festival on Oct. 18th, 2024. It's a...

SoCal Snowy Owl Short Documentary Received the Audience Award for Best Short Documentary at the 25th Anniversary Newport Beach Film Festival

More ORI News

Stay Connected with ORI

🦉🦉The Great Horned Owl Nest cam is LIVE on Explore.org! Hootie and Wonky have a beautiful nest in an evergreen tree with the Mission Mountains as a backdrop. Hootie has been a dutiful father and has been sitting on a branch next to Wonky who has been sitting on the nest since Feb. 27th. #exploreorg
https://explore.org/livecams/owl-research-institute/great-horned-owl-cam

🦉 NEW VIDEO: Short-eared Owl Research & Conservation Insights at Flathead Audubon Society's Presentation by Beth Mendelsohn of the Owl Research Institute. She shares fascinating discoveries from ORI’s Short-eared Owl research, you’ll learn about the natural history of these elusive grassland owls, what long-term studies have revealed, and how cutting-edge camera technology is shedding light on their social behaviors and top predators. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxgU_xKkFpA&t=166s

We were excited to be mentioned and Denver Holt quoted in the cover story of this month's issue of Montana Outdoors Magazine, called "Whoo Are You? Montana's Guide to 15 Species of Owls." A big shout-out to Ellen Horowitz for putting this informative article together! You can read the entire article at this link starting on page 28. https://ow.ly/YhuV50VaEXB #montanaoutdoors

See our latest Blog Post where MTPR: Montana's Public Radio did a news segment on ORI's Raptor Survey. We Have Also Broken Our Record of Most Raptors Counted in One Day! Listen and Read here: https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/single-post/ori-s-raptor-survey-highlighted-by-mtpr-montana-s-public-radio-since-then-we-have-broken-our-reco

Happy Owlentine’s Day from the Owl Research Institute ��💕

Tag your Owlentine in the comments ❤️

Still looking for a last minute gift? Order an Owlentine in our online store and receive an instant downloadable pdf for the owl lover in your life!

Enjoy Superb Owl Sunday! If football's not your thing, head on over to Explore.org and watch Owl Research Institute's Live Owl Cams instead (or both). 🦉 vs. 🦅 May the best raptor win!

LIVE-VIRTUAL! Beth presenting on Short-eared Owl Research via Zoom during the Fernald Winter Bird Fest 2025: Thurs. Feb 6th at 6:30 EST - 8:30 EST. Free registration required, please register via email to: fernald@lm.doe.gov
Learn more here: https://www.energy.gov/lm/events/fernald-winter-bird-fest-2025

Owl Conversations: Breakfast #owlresearchinstitute

With the support of our amazing community, we've been able to continue our long-term research and promote owl conservation - but we still need your help to keep it going into the future! We have a matching grant, so please help us reach our GOAL today of $10,000, to support specific key areas of our research, like our long-term Snowy Owl research in Alaska. Give here: https://ow.ly/beFv50Ukma6

Long-eared Owl Chick eats his dinner... ORI is wishing you wonderful Thanksgiving!

Saw-whet Banding Station at FLBS in Montana. Quick overview of what the Owl Research Institute does at the station and data they collect.

"SoCal Snowy Owl" debuts at Newport Beach Film Festival Oct. 18th. It's a short documentary film that has been chosen out of hundreds of films and premieres at the The Newport Beach Film Festival. The ORI's Denver Holt had the opportunity to co-produce this documentary short film with a super talented group of film-makers through Blue Rider Pictures (www.blueriderpictures.com).

There will be a red carpet event along with photo opportunities and hopefully a few surprises in the lobby of the historic Lido Theater. After the screening and inside the theater, they will have Owl Research Institute Founder and Snowy Owl expert Denver Holt give a short talk, and some others will speak as well. You can purchase tickets here: https://nbff2024.eventive.org/films/66cf7c3b1d28ba001fe8b507
Tickets are $20 with discounted $15 tickets available for students, seniors and military. There are 2 screenings in the festival with a 2nd showing on Oct. 24 in the Big Newport 4 theater.

I know some have the question of “where can we see the film other than in the Newport Beach Film Festival?” We are not sure where yet, the goal is to share it far and wide, so we will keep you posted. Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4imI6nePDY #socalsnowyowl

The ORI hosted its first Visitor's Night this last Saturday evening and everyone got to see a live Saw-whet owl and enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience learning about these adorable raptors! The banding station at the Flathead Biological Station has been going great so far this season, a few nights ago, 10 owls were caught, banded, measured and weighed. Lauren Tate, our lead bander at the station, is explaining about the natural history of Saw-whet Owls, ORI’s current research, and the impacts of our long-term data collection as well as how we safely and ethically catch and release these owls. Visitors are able to touch real owl feathers and specimens and talk to Field Biologists about their work. Advance registration is required and space is limited to 30 people each week, so register now by going to our Visitor Registration page on our website: https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/visitor-registration. Looking forward to a great season, hope to see you there!

Big shout out to Pete Ripmaster, he'll be tackling State #30 next month in his Owl Run 100’s project, which is supporting the ORI. He will be running in Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho in Oct. We also wanted to share the recent article about him in the Audubon. Thanks for all you do Pete! https://bit.ly/RipmasterAudubon

Osprey Chick 16 officially fledged for the first time on Thursday, August 15, 2024 10:08 AM. The chick is taking short flights and still receiving food from its parents. Head on over to Explore.org to watch the chick build its confidence and independence. https://explore.org/livecams/currently-live/charlo-montana-osprey-nest

Did you know this year is the 33rd season for the Snowy Owl Project in Utqiagvik, Alaska? We’re celebrating this milestone with some of the crews favorite photos from the last 33 years!

It’s amazing to see how much has changed (notably the hairstyles and fashion) but the research focus remains the same!

If you’d like to support our Snowy Owl Project please donate on our website https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/donate

All banding, marking and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the US Geological Survey’s BBL.

Photos 1-6 Denver Holt and company conducting Snowy Owl research, photographers unknown
Photo 7: The 2024 Snowy Owl Project crew (Denver, Lauren, Hayley)

Happy International Owl Awareness Day! 🦉❤️

The Owl Research Institute is dedicated to conservation through our long-term research projects. We study the owl species themselves but also their prey species and their relationship to the habitats where they live.

Over 30 years of boots on the ground research and we are still grateful for the opportunity to study these owls in their natural environments, and we continue to learn new things every day!

All banding, marking and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the US Geological Survey’s BBL.

Photo 1: Northern Saw-whet Owl 📸 by Kurt Lindsay
Photo 2: Northern Pygmy Owl 📸 by @melissagroo
Photo 3: Great Gray Owl 📸 by @melissagroo
Photo 4: Snowy Owl nest 📸 by @melissagroo
Photo 5: Short-eared Owl 📸 by Kurt Lindsay
Photo 6: Snowy Owl female and chick 📸 by @melissagroo

WhoooooDunIt? Short-eared Owl Predation Research: Watch a Day in the Field with ORI's Biologist Beth Mendelsohn where she seeks to find out the Short-eared Owl's biggest threats. Find out how we are using cameras and technology to unravel the mystery and who or what is the culprit in this episode?

Have you seen these new signs up in the Mission Valley? Beth and crew have been busy installing these signs to ask people to slow down to prevent fledgling Short-eared Owls from being struck by vehicles along roads. Having already found at least 5 dead fledglings along roads, it is critical that we try to prevent these losses. The life of a young owl is already challenging enough, without the added danger of fast moving vehicles. A special thank you to Amy Lisk and Marlin McDonald, the range technician who helped with the install. This is a collaboration with CSKT and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Slide 1: Sign in the Mission Valley
Slide 2-3: The installation process
Slide 4: A Short-eared Owl fledgling in flight

Denver Holt has a recent update thus far from the Arctic on Snowy Owls and Lemming surveys. For over 30 years, the Owl Research Institute has been dedicated to studying Snowy Owls and their primary food source, lemmings, in Utqiagvik, Alaska. This crucial research helps us understand and protect these magnificent birds and their fragile Arctic ecosystem.

However, we lost our long-term housing on location and the costs of conducting this research have nearly doubled in recent years. Our ATV is in serious need of repairs. We urgently need your support to continue our important work.

Donate today to help us:

1. Sustain our long-term research efforts
2. Monitor Snowy Owl populations and their habitats
3. Study the critical relationship between owls and lemmings
4. Find and set up an Explore.org Snowy Owl Camera for everyone to view a live Snowy nest when accessible.

Click here to see highlights of the last Snowy Owl cam season.
https://explore.org/livecams/members/ORI_Researchers/arctic-snowy-owl-nesting-cam

Please support us here or share this post. Thank you! https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/donate

The summer of banding continues! Long-eared owl chicks are banded either just before they leave the nest or just after, when they can still be found on branches near the nest area. Parents are still feeding the chicks at this age and will continue to do so until the fledglings are able to consistently hunt for themselves. The bands on each young owl will identify them and which nest they came from, so that if they are ever found again we will know how far they have dispersed! We hope to find some of these owls again over the winter.

All banding, marking and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the US Geological Survey’s BBL.

Photo 1: Long-eared Owl chick in the process of being banded
Photo 2: Long-eared Owl chicks waiting to be banded
Photo 3: chicks are covered while waiting for their turn (some don’t stay covered for long)
Photo 4-5: the banding process
Photo 6: The female sits by her young fledgling

We’re excited to share that our ongoing project on predation and nesting outcomes in Short-eared Owls in the Mission Valley is yielding some promising results!

This year we have located over 30 Short-eared Owl nests (NEW RECORD). This year’s breeding season began early and continues to produce more nests. We anticipate finding a few more before the season ends!

The breeding season for Short-eared Owls extends from March through July and August. During this crucial period, please be mindful of ground-nesting birds and avoid disturbing their habitats. Many nests fail and birds are killed due to mowing, haying, grazing, herbicide application, and spring burning. Young birds just learning how to fly can often be hit by cars so please drive cautiously on back roads.

Photo 1: Short-eared Owl chick after banding (approx 5 weeks old)
Photo 2: Short-eared Owl eggs
Photo 3: eggs and 1 chick
Photo 4: lots of chicks in the nest (how many can you spot?)
Photo 5: Short-eared Owl chick on the ground after leaving the nest

Last month ORI researchers found the first Boreal Owl nest in our study area in 6 years! Boreal Owls nest in boreal and subalpine forests that can be hard to access in the snow, making them a difficult species to find. The Boreal Owl nest box project has been going on since 1996 and this discovery gives us hope that we will find more nests in the future.

The team, consisting of Denver, Hayley, Matt and Lauren, carefully carried the chicks down from their nest box then banded them, took measurements, photos and brought them back up to their nest box.

Denver and Beth from ORI recently had the opportunity to visit the Global Owl Project’s burrowing owl research sites in Oregon. Thank you so much to the researchers and crew for hosting us! Congratulations on bringing this owl species back and achieving a banner nesting year, including some owls using natural nest sites in badger dug burrows. You can learn more about this 15 year extensive research study at @globalowlproject 🦉

All banding, marking and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the US Geological Survey’s BBL.

Did you know that owls have internal ears, not external ears like us? Their ears are elongated slit-like openings on either side of the head, located just behind the facial disc. The facial disc acts similar to a large satellite dish, collecting sounds. At the edge of the facial disc is a row of stiff, interlocking feathers which captures sounds and directs them to the internal ears. Some owl species have symmetrical ear placements, while other species have asymmetrical ear placement. The difference in the amount of time it takes for sound to reach each ear allows an owl to determine where a sound is coming from on both the horizontal and vertical planes.
🦉👂
All banding, marking and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the US Geological Survey’s BBL.

Photo 1 close up of Long-eared Owl ear by Kurt Lindsay
Photo 2 Great Grey Owl facial disc by Kurt Lindsay

It seems we have some introductions to make! The Charlo Osprey Platform has a new female, and her name is…..
0928-11805!

These are some of the amazing parts of research, this female showed up on the platform wearing a metal band and viewers immediately got to work to determine her band number. That number told us she was banded by Raptor View Research Institute as a nestling near Lolo, MT in 2010, making her 14 years old! This was the first encounter reported for this female, so it’s unknown where she’s been for the last 14 years of her life.

It appears she’s here to stay, she laid her first egg this morning (May 2nd). Congratulations to her and Charlie! 🎉🎊

@raptorview did we just become best friends 🥹

Screenshots from @exploreorg courtesy of Regina from Hamburg

Meet Troy Gruetzmacher, Applied Technology Specialist!

Troy has always been interested in birding and spending time outdoors learning about the world. Through a chance encounter with a Pygmy owl years ago, he became captivated by them.

Troy’s educational background is unique for ORI, since he has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and extensive experience with software development and applying technology to enhance processes. Troy started as a volunteer with ORI a few years ago to help with Great Gray night surveys and shortly thereafter decided to look for technology based solutions to supplement night surveys with recording devices. Since then he’s become enthralled with learning more about Great Gray vocalization behavior and trying to decipher its meaning. When not out looking for owls, Troy enjoys hiking, biking, camping and spending time with his wife Julia and son, Oliver.

Welcome to the team Troy!

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The Owl Research Institute

Dedicated to owl conservation through research and education ​

Watch Owls Live: Owls 24/7 on Explore.org cameras

Download Explore App Here

Research

Education

Conservation

About ORI

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Videos

Quick Links

Research Projects That Need Your Support

Climate Change and Snowy Owls

Great Gray Owls & Snag Data for Forest Management

Taking the Long-View on Long-Eared Owls

Recent News

ORI's Raptor Survey Highlighted by MTPR: Montana's Public Radio, Since Then, We Have Broken Our Record of Most Raptors Counted in One Day

Saw-Whet Banding Station Season Wrap-up

SoCal Snowy Owl Short Documentary Received the Audience Award for Best Short Documentary at the 25th Anniversary Newport Beach Film Festival

Stay Connected with ORI

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Follow us on Instagram

Support Priority Projects for Owls

HELP PROTECT OWLS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME

Dedicated to owl conservation through research and education