Screech Owl

For Superb Owl Sunday, I'd be remiss if I didn't spotlight an owl, wouldn't I? Here's an owl someone pointed out to me; it's an Eastern Screech Owl sheltering in an old tree cavity. Though Eastern Screech Owls do nest in tree cavities, given this picture is from December I suspect the tree cavity was merely providing a secure place to spend the daylight hours.

These guys have both songs and calls. The songs are mostly used for romance, sometimes being a trilly sound and other times sounding vaguely like a horse winny. The calls are more about territorial warnings to other owls or battle cries when defending their young; the calls can be pretty screechy. If you annoy them, they might also snap their beaks at you.

They have an odd relationship with European Starlings. Though Eastern Screech Owls will prey on the starlings, European Starlings will also bully the owls out of a nesting spot. (It's possible that the ESOs will sometimes pick off a lone starling, they won't fight starlings for a nesting spot because they know the starlings can bring reinforcements from the flock if the owls don't move on.)

December 23, 2020 at Duke Farms
Photo 119572285, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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