Eastern Screech-Owl

Megascops asio

Order STRIGIFORMES - Family STRIGIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The Eastern Screech-Owl is found in nearly every habitat throughout the eastern United States and southern Canada. It is common in urban as well as rural areas and readily nests in nest boxes.

Cool Facts

• Red and gray individuals occur across the range of the Eastern Screech-Owl, with about one-third of all individuals being red. Rufous owls are more common in the East, with fewer than 15% red at the western edge of the range. No red owls are known from southern Texas, although they occur further north in Texas and further south in Mexico. Intermediate brownish individuals also occur in most populations.

• The Eastern Screech-Owl eats a variety of small animals. Two captive males ate from one-quarter to one-third of their own body weight in food each night, but sometimes skipped a night and stored food instead.

• The trilling song on one pitch, sometimes known as the Bounce Song, is used by members of a pair or a family to keep in contact. The male will trill to advertise a nest site, court the female, and when arriving at a nest with food. The descending Whinny is used in territory defense. The songs usually are uttered separately, but sometimes are heard together.

• Eastern Screech-Owl pairs usually are monogamous and remain together for life. Some males, however, will mate with two different females. The second female may evict the first female, lay her own eggs in the nest, and incubate both clutches.

• The Eastern Screech-Owl is known to eat a variety of songbirds, including the European Starling. Despite this fact, the starling regularly displaces the owl from nesting sites and takes over the hole to raise its own brood.

Description

• Size: 16-25 cm (6-10 in)
• Wingspan: 48-61 cm (19-24 in)
• Weight: 121-244 g (4.27-8.61 ounces)

• Small owl.
• Feathered ear tufts.
• Gray, brownish gray, or reddish-brown.

• Eyes yellow.
• Bill greenish.
• Toes feathered.
• May be gray, reddish, or brown.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, female larger.

Immature

Immature like adult.

Similar Species

• Western Screech-Owl has thinner streaks on chest feathers and darker bill.

Sound

Two common songs: A descending whistled whinny, and a whistled trill on one pitch. Calls hoots, barks, and screeches.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from central Montana and southeastern Saskatchewan eastward to southern Quebec, southward to Florida, western Texas, and northeastern Mexico.

Habitat

Found in most habitats with trees, including urban and suburban areas.

Food

Insects, crayfish, earthworms, songbirds, rodents.

Behavior

Foraging

Sit-and-wait predator. Hunts at night and in evening, occasionally during the day.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nests in tree cavities; readily uses nest boxes. Adds no nesting material to cavity.

Egg Description

White.

Clutch Size

Usually 3-4 eggs. Range: 2-6.

Condition at Hatching

Covered in white down, eyes closed.

Conservation Status

Widespread and common.

Other Names

Petit-duc maculé (French)
Tecolote chillón, Tecolote oriental (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Gehlbach, F. R. 1995. Eastern Screech-Owl (Otus asio). In The Birds of North America, No. 165 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.