The Eastern Screech-Owl is a small nocturnal woodland animal. Linnaeus named and classified them in 1758. They are also known as Ghost owl, Dusk owl, Little-Eared owl, Spirit Owl, Little Dukelet, and many other names. They rarely glide or hover, but may fly with erratic movements, when moving through wooded areas. Their wings are broad and the head is held tucked in giving the bird a stubby look when flying.

The Eastern Screech-Owl lives in eastern North America from East Montana and the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, South to Tamaulipas in Northeast Mexico, and South Ontario to Florida. It is in the phylum Chordata (vertebrates), the class Aves (birds), the order Strigiformes (owls), and the family Strigidae (the owl family). The female eastern screech-owl is an average of 23 cm in length, while the males average only 21 cm. Their wingspans average 56 to 54 cm and weigh from 200 to 208 grams.

The Eastern Screech-Owl has two color phases: gray phase and red phase. In the gray phase they are finely mottled, and each feather has an irregular blackish streak, or a chain of small spots. The tail is crossed by seven or eight narrow bands of lighter grayish brown or cinnamon-drab. Their face is grayish white, with an area of deep brown immediately above the eye. The facial disk is bordered mostly with black, especially from behind the ears to the sides of the throat; the chin and throat are dull white. The red phase’s pattern is generally the same but the gray or brown everywhere is replaced by bright cinnamon or chestnut colors. The sexes are basically the same as far as coloration.

Males have a lower pitched voice than females. The male’s most common call is eerie, and mellow; it is given during the mating and nesting seasons. This call is primarily territorial in nature and announces ownership of nest cavities. Females tend to bark or hoot when defending the nest. They generally do not call in flight unless they alarmed or in danger.

The Eastern Screech-Owl eats a wide variety of foods, most likely the foods that are readily available. They eat a variety of mammals such as shrews, moles, flying squirrels, chipmunks, and bats. They also eat other birds like songbirds and even other screech owls. Other vertebrate prey includes snakes, lizards, toads, salamanders, and small fish, and invertebrate prey includes a large number of insects, many apparently caught in flight. Parent screech-owls hunt throughout the night for their young, from just after dusk until just before dawn. A study revealed that nestlings fed first by adults start to beg earlier, extending their beaks higher and closer to the adult, and call at higher rates and volume than siblings not fed first. The nestlings fed first will grow faster and bigger because they will always be fed first. This is important in determining which nestlings will be fed when differences in the mass of siblings reach a certain level.

Pair bonding seems to be monogamous and lifelong in screech-owls. The breeding season is not very long. In a study, 25 egg dates from New York and New England were from April 12 to May 18. All of the studies done similarly have come up with the same results. The incubation period is about 26 days, and the fledging period is 30-32 days. The nesting success rate is about 86 percent.

On the other side of the Rocky Mountains there is a similar Western Screech-Owl. It is a little bigger than the Eastern Screech-Owl, and seems to be darker in color. It is separable from the Eastern Screech-Owl in that the bill is almost always black, with a whitish tip. A study of the differences in vocalization between eastern and western has not been done yet, but it is likely that the two are similar if not identical in many vocal respects. Everything else seems to be similar among the two owls. This includes social behavior and the food they eat.

I have always been fascinated with these owls. When I was young I went camping and during a hike, one was pointed out to me. The tour guide went on to explain some details about them. I found them beautiful and I was interested in researching them for this project.

Written fall 2000, as a service learning project for Dr. Gary Coté's Biology 102 class at Radford University. Copyright Pathways for Radford.