Eastern screech owl

 Eastern screech owl at Lovers Key

 Eastern screech owl Megascops asio

The eastern screech owl belongs to the Strigidae family.


The owl is found in the wooded suburbs and is one if the more common avian predators. The owl is mainly nocturnal but sometimes are crepuscular and diurnal. The owl eats insects, other birds and rodents. The owl has many different vocalisations which include screeches, barks, chuckles, rasps and hoots. The owl can nest in a vary of places from unused woodpeckers nest to ready made bird boxes.


Mating and courtship start from January and March by the males by showing the females how well he can make a nest. The eggs are laid by the females in March to May. The young bird relies on its parents for up to ten weeks after hatching. The adult have a wingspan on 53cm.

The way to identify these owls are by there big yellow eyes, they have tufts on the end of their ears and are usually raised but when the ears are flat, the owl has a round looking head. The facial disk is mainly dark. The scapulars are black along the edge with white on the outer section which form a white line along the shoulder. The feet are large with compared with the rest of its body. The females are larger than the males but the plumages are the similar between the sexes. The young have light and dark colours on their heads.

The size of the owl can differ geographically. In the south and east the owls are darker in colour and small but in the north and west the owls are lighter in colour and bigger. In Florida the more common colourations are brown, grey and rufous (red). The bill is grey and black.

There is a defence song is three seconds long, it quavers. The contact song last from three to six seconds it is low pitched again quavering trill for around fourteen notes per second. When the male has finished building the nest he will sound the contact song to tell the females that the nest is available or if he has brought food back to the nest. When the females sings each song it is slightly higher pitch than the males. 

The range of the Eastern screech owl is from Colorado, to Kansas, Texas and San Angelo.   

Society, N. (2015). Eastern Screech-Owls, Eastern Screech-Owl pictures, Eastern Screech-Owl Facts - National Geographic. [online] National Geographic. Available at: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/eastern-screech-owl/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2015].