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Eastern Screech-Owl

Megascops asioOrder: STRIGIFORMESFamily: True Owls (Strigidae)
Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Hooked
  • Eye Color: Pale to lemon yellow, darkening with age.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Crested or plumed, Streaked, Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown Color: Red or gray with dark streaking.
  • Forehead Color: Red or gray with white eyebrows and "moustache". Partly mottled facial disk with dark rim.
  • Nape Color: Red or gray with dark streaking.
  • Throat Color: Dark-tipped feathers form a ring around throat.
  • Cere color: Gray
Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 18-25 cm (7-10 in)
  • Weight: 167 g (5.9 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Gray
  • Underparts: White with dark cross-hatching pattern.
  • Upperparts: Red or gray with dark streaking.
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Mottled
  • Breast Pattern: Mottled
Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Silent wing beats., Bouyant flight.
  • Wingspan Range: 46-61 cm (18-24 in)
  • Wing Shape: Broad-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Rounded Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Barred
  • Upper Tail: Red or gray with dark streaking.
  • Under Tail: White with barring.
  • Leg Color: Feathered in buff-gray.
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Family True Owl (Strigidae)_blue
Species Megascops asio
Length7 - 10 Inches
Wingspan21 Inches

Eastern Screech-Owl

Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Small with gray-mottled upperparts, rows of white spots at shoulders, heavily streaked and barred underparts. Facial disk is lightly mottled with prominent dark rim. Small ear tufts. Yellow eyes, bill is yellow or olive-green. Short, rounded wings and tail are barred.

● Song: No data available.

● Foraging & Feeding: Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Feeds on mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, shrews, bats, and moles. Searches for prey while in flight, rather than from a perch.

● Breeding & nesting: Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Two to eight white eggs are laid on natural sawdust on the floor of a natural tree cavity or abandoned woodpecker hole, usually 6 to 20 feet above the ground; readily nests in suitable boxes. Incubation takes about 26 days and is done mostly by the female.

● Similar species: Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Western Screech-Owl has gray to black bill and different call. Whiskered Screech-Owl is smaller and does not occur in range.

Flight Pattern

Silent wing beats., Bouyant flight.
Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Eastern Screech-Owl Gray Morph: Common in east North America from east Montana and the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, south to Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico; also found from south Ontario to Florida. Preferred habitats include mixed woodlands, deciduous forests, parklands, wooded suburban areas, riparian woods along streams and wetlands, mature orchards, meadows, and fields.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationWidespread but with gradual decline
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight5.9 Ounces