Bird name:

Eastern Screech-Owl

Megascops asio

Order

STRIGIFORMES

Family

True Owls (Strigidae)

Code 4

EASO

Code 6

MEGASI

ITIS

686658

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous, Grasslands

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Widespread but with gradual decline

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

No material added to nest.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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General

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Small owl with gray-mottled upperparts, rows of white spots at shoulders and heavily streaked and barred underparts. Facial disk is lightly mottled with prominent dark rim. Ear tufts are small. Eyes are bright yellow and bill is yellow or olive-green. Short, rounded wings and tail are barred. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has a downy appearance. Red morph is similar but gray tones are replaced with red-brown.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Common in east North America from east Montana and the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, south to Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico; also found from south Ontario to Florida. Preferred habitats include mixed woodlands, deciduous forests, parklands, wooded suburban areas, riparian woods along streams and wetlands, mature orchards, meadows, and fields.

Breeding and Nesting

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Two to eight white eggs are laid on natural sawdust on the floor of a natural tree cavity or abandoned woodpecker hole, usually 6 to 20 feet above the ground; readily nests in suitable boxes. Incubation takes about 26 days and is done mostly by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Feeds on mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, shrews, bats, and moles. Searches for prey while in flight, rather than from a perch.

Vocalization

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Call is an eerie, mellow, muted trill given during mating and nesting seasons. Each call lasts 2 to 3 seconds and contains about 35 notes. Also gives a descending whinny call; female may bark or hoot when defending the nest.

Similar Species

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Western Screech-Owl has gray to black bill and different call. Whiskered Screech-Owl is smaller and does not occur in range.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Riparian

Relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America