Screech Owl
The screech owl is the only small Pennsylvania owl with ear tufts. It is 10 inches long, with a 22-inch wingspan and a 6-7 ounce body weight. The species is dichromatic. I.e. exhibiting two color phases-gray and red-independent of age or sex, consistent from first plumage to old age and frequently found in a single brood. Gray phase birds are a dappled brownish-gray; red phase individuals are chestnut-red, also dappled. The pale breast and belly are streaked with dark gay or chestnut, depending on the color phase. In Pennsylvania, the gray phase is probably ten times more common than the red phase.
A screech owl’s call is termed a "quivering whistle," "mournful wail" or "long, descending whinny with tremolo, repeated at irregular intervals"(huhuhuhuhu, etc.).
Screech owl nest in unlined cavities of hollow trees, in abandoned holes of flickers and pileated woodpeckers and even in birdhouses. In March, the female lays4-5 eggs; incubation takes 26 days. After hatching, young remain in the nest for one month.
Large insects such as grasshoppers, moths and beetles, mice, shrews, small birds, crayfish, frogs and flying squirrels form the screech owl diet; most non-insect food is taken during winter. Screech owls hunt by flying low and swiftly over fields. Common in our state, they live in farm woodlots, orchards, stream edges and wooded areas of towns and cities.
These Eastern Screech Owls are hungrily swallowing "pinkies" (baby mice) faster than the pinkies can be handed to them.
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