Habitat
Almost any habitat with sufficient tree overlay will do for this cosmopolitan owl. tree cavities or nest boxes are necessity, and reasonably open understories are preferred, but Eastern Screech-Owls live and breed successfully in farmland, suburban landscapes, and city parks. On the Great Plains, at the westernmost border of its range, Eastern Screech-Owls happen in the uneven traces of wooded country along streams and rivers. Screech-owls can not survive if all trees are removed, but the species readily recolonizes once trees are replanted, particularly if nest boxes are besides provided. Back to top
Food
Eastern Screech-Owls eat most kinds of little animals, including birds and mammals ampere well as amazingly large numbers of earthworms, insects, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and lizards. They eat many kinds of mammals, including rats, mouse, squirrels, moles, and rabbits. little birds taken as prey include flycatchers, swallows, thrushes, waxwings, and finches, arsenic well as larger species such as jays, gripe, doves, shorebirds, and woodpeckers. This owl is agile enough to occasionally prey on bats, and can rarely flush be cannibalistic. When raven is bountiful, easterly Screech-Owls hoard excess food in tree holes for equally long as four days. Back to top
Nesting
Nest Placement
Eastern Screech-Owls nest in holes and cavities, but never dig a pit themselves. therefore, they depend on tree holes opened or enlarged by woodpeckers, fungus, decomposition, or squirrels. They frequently occupy abandoned woodpecker nest holes. easterly Screech-Owls readily accept nest boxes, including those built for forest Ducks or Purple Martins, and sometimes nest in wood piles, mailboxes, or crates left on the land .
Nest Description
Eastern Screech-Owls construct no nest. The female lays her eggs on whatever debris is at the bottom of her nest cavity, be it wood-chips, twigs, or the cast-off feathers and droppings from a former year ’ sulfur nest. Settling in, she makes a body-shaped depression where her egg lie.
Nesting Facts
Clutch Size: | 2-6 eggs |
Number of Broods: | 1 brood |
Egg Length: | 1.3-1.4 in (3.4-3.6 cm) |
Egg Width: | 1.1-1.2 in (2.9-3 cm) |
Incubation Period: | 27-34 days |
Nestling Period: | 26-30 days |
Egg Description: | White. |
Condition at Hatching: | covered in white down; eyes closed. |
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Behavior
Eastern Screech-Owls are chiefly active at nox, though they frequently hunt at dawn or dusk, and occasionally in daylight. These versatile hunters sit and wait in the trees for prey to pass below. They tend to pounce from perches six to ten feet off the crunch, occasionally snatching an insect or cream on the wing or hitting shallow body of water talons-first to snag pisces or tadpoles. Most flights are short ( less than 75 feet or then ). When traveling between perches, these owls frequently flatten, fly straight, then rise again, in a characteristic u-shaped pattern. easterly Screech-Owls form stable matches, normally one male with one female but occasionally one male with two females. Males defend small territories containing several cavity roost spots. When nest, the female stays in the nest trap except for brief dawn and twilight excursions. She and the nestlings are fed by her mate, though it is the female who tears the prey into small bits for the babies. At fledge, the young beginning hop to the labor or nearby branches, using feet and fluttering wings to climb laboriously back to base hit. Young acquire flight and hunting skills slowly ; they depend on their parents for food for 8–10 weeks after fledging. Both parents feed the youngsters at this stage, and adults, particularly the females, protection together with the unseasoned in communal tree roosts. gradually, as the young profit skill, they begin to roost and hunt apart from their parents and siblings. Back to top
Conservation
Eastern Screech-Owl numbers are unmanageable to determine owing to their nocturnal life style. According to the north american Breeding Bird Survey, their numbers have decreased annually by close to 1 % for a accumulative descent of about 37 % between 1966 and 2019. Partners in Flight estimates a global breed population of 560,000 and rates the species 10 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of broken conservation concern. This little owl is a renaissance man, with unfussy corrode and nest habits, and adjusts well to the presence of humans. In fact, suburban birds often survive better than their rural akin, as suburb provide more prey, balmy climates, and fewer predators. eastern Screech-Owls need trees to nest in, or, at least, nest boxes and bosky cover, but their small size, territorial tolerance, and broadly varied diet make this owl a successful survivor.
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Credits
Lutmerding, J. A. and A. S. Love. ( 2020 ). Longevity records of union american birds. version 2020. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory 2020. Partners in Flight. ( 2020 ). avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2020. Ritchison, Gary, Frederick R. Gehlbach, Peter Pyle and Michael A. Patten. ( 2017 ). easterly Screech-Owl ( Megascops asio ), version 3.0. In The Birds of North America ( P. G. Rodewald, editor ). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Read more : Willie Wagtail Nesting: A Complete Guide
Sauer, J. R., D. K. Niven, J. E. Hines, D. J. Ziolkowski Jr., K. L. Pardieck, J. E. Fallon, and W. A. Link ( 2019 ). The north american Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966–2019. adaptation 2.07.2019. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. Sibley, D. A. ( 2014 ). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA. back to top
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.