RANGE: Southern part of Canada down to north-eastern Mexico, all of the United States east of the Mississippi River except northern Maine. As far west as eastern Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

HABITAT: Open woods and suburbs with large shade trees.

SIZE: LENGTH: 7-10 inches
WINGSPAN: 18-24 inches
WEIGHT: 4-6 ounces

LIFE EXPECTANCY
WILD: 3-8 years
CAPTIVITY: Up to 12 years

REPRODUCTION: In this area the breeding season is March and April, relatively short. The clutch size is 3-5 eggs. Incubation period approximately 26 days. Chicks fledge at 30-32 days. Nests are usually found in natural cavities (Woodpecker holes) in trees but will use man made nest boxes.

DIET: Small mammals (mice, rats, moles, shrews, flying squirrels, chipmunks, and bats); small birds (songbirds, rock doves, bobwhites, ruffed grouse, kestrels, and other screech owls)reptiles and insects (snakes, lizards, frogs, toads salamanders, small fish, snails, crayfish, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, earthworms, moths, and grasshoppers)

BEHAVIOR: Form pair bonds that are monogamous and lifelong. Pair bonding behavior includes calling in synchronized duets and mutual preening and rubbing of facial area. Defend only a small territory that includes the nest site and a peripheral area surrounding the nest site. Main call sounds like mournful, descending whinny, much like a horse's neigh.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Smallest tufted owl in the United States. Two color phases: red and gray. Differences in color are arbitrary, have no import with respect to age, sex, etc. Eastern screech owls can be differentiated from western screech owls by the color of their bills. The Eastern's bill is grayish green and the western's is black.

Owls in general have 14 vertebrae in their neck and we have 7. An owl can turn it's head 270 degrees in either direction. Because these birds have such large eyes there is no room in their skull for muscles to move the eyes. The owl compensates for this lack of eye movement with the great movement of the head, hence the 14 vertebrae.

STATUS: Screech Owl populations have fluctuated since the 1940's with no clear directional trend evident. Perhaps the screech owl's utilization of suburban areas has balanced out the habitat loss in woodlands and creek bottoms.