Our Backyard Screech Owls

On Friday, our neighbour Judy sent me a photo she had taken from her deck of a little owl sitting on the fence between our backyards. Unbeknownst to us, an owl family was hanging out in our maple tree by the pool.

These owls are difficult to spot as their feathers match perfectly with the branches. They seem to rest during the day hunting mostly at night. 

We tried taking photos at night, but they didn't work out. We thought we had spooked the owls with the flash as we didn't see them for a couple days. Turns out we probably didn't look closely enough. These owls can hide in plain sight among the branches. 

Our son sent a photo of our owls to a friend who works at a bird sanctuary. He tells us these are Screech Owls. 

I managed to capture a few half decent photos of Our Backyard Screech Owls today after work. Take a look at this adorable family of little owls. There are two adults with two young ones.

I looked up the following Cool Facts about the Eastern Screech Owl:

• Like most raptors, male Eastern Screech-Owls are smaller than females, and are more agile fliers and hunters. The female doesn’t hunt while on the nest; she and the chicks depend on food brought them by the male. Though the male is smaller, his voice is deeper than the female’s.
• Smaller birds can help you find screech-owls during the day. Listen for a commotion of Blue Jays, chickadees, and titmice—they may be mobbing a screech-owl (or other raptor), swooping around it with noisy calls. This can be enough of a nuisance to make the owl move on, and it alerts other birds to the predator’s presence and teaches younger members of the flock about the danger.
• Screech-owls regurgitate the bones, fur, and feathers of their prey in an oval pellet, usually once or twice a day. The ground beneath habitual owl roosts can be littered with pellets, and you can learn a lot from them about the owl’s diet. However, data from pellets may underestimate the number of soft-bodied animals, like worms and insects, the owl has eaten.
• Eastern Screech-Owls of the suburbs may fledge more young than their rural counterparts, probably because their predators are scarcer in the suburbs.
• Eastern Screech-Owl pairs usually are monogamous and remain together for life. Some males, however, will mate with two different females. The second female may evict the first female, lay her own eggs in the nest, and incubate both clutches.
• The Eastern Screech-Owl is known to eat a variety of songbirds, including the European Starling. Despite this fact, the starling regularly displaces the owl from nesting sites and takes over the hole to raise its own brood.

Thank you Judy for noticing and telling us about Our Backyard Screech Owls. I am captivated by this little owl family. They're a total hoot 😀

Be the first to comment - click on No Comments: below