eastern screech owl

Eastern Screech Owl
(Otus asio)

eastern screech owl baby

One baby Screech owlet successfully
fostered and released!

The eastern screech owl, with its yellow eyes and pale bill, is the smallest owl with feather tufts in the eastern United States. They are common in a wide variety of habitats: woodlots, swamps, forests, orchards, parks, suburban gardens and have been seen flying around streetlights in suburban areas catching insects. Screech owls usually nest on the bottom of natural cavities in sycamores, elms, dead pines, and other trees, many times taking over abandoned woodpecker holes.

Generally the 4-5 eggs are laid upon no nesting material and are incubated almost entirely by the female for 26-28 days.The male usually feeds the female while she incubates.Both parents feed the young until they are ready to fledge at 28 days. The screech owl is one of the most strictly nocturnal of North American owls. Their diet consists of mainly mice and small rodents, but they also dine extensively on insects.The call of the screech owl is not a screech but rather a soft, mournful whinny.A second call is a tremulous whistle that falls down the scale.

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