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, th...