“Eastern Screech Owl, Thrill of the Trill”

If a mysterious trill catches your attention in the night, bear in mind the spooky sound may come from an owl no bigger than a pint glass. Common east of the Rockies in woods, suburbs, and parks, the Eastern Screech-Owl is found wherever trees are, and they’re even willing to nest in backyard nest boxes. These supremely camouflaged birds hide in nooks and tree crannies throughout the day, so train your ears and listen for them at night. Their calls are a tremulous, whinnying trill, some lower and monotone. Eastern Screech owls have multiple morphs, or color patterns, with the red (left) and grey (right) portrayed here. They are patterned with complex bands and spots that give the bird excellent camouflage against tree bark.

Eastern Screech-Owls eat most kinds of small animals, including birds and mammals and surprisingly large numbers of earthworms, insects, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and lizards. They nest in holes and cavities but never dig a cavity themselves. Thus, they depend on tree holes opened or enlarged by woodpeckers, fungus, rot, or squirrels. They often occupy abandoned woodpecker nest holes. They readily accept nest boxes, including those built for Wood Ducks or Purple Martins, and sometimes nest in wood piles, mailboxes, or crates left on the ground. 

Eastern Screech-Owls are mainly active at night, though they often hunt at dawn or dusk and occasionally in daylight. These versatile hunters wait in the trees for prey to pass below. They tend to pounce from perches six to ten feet off the ground, occasionally snatching an insect or bat on the wing or hitting shallow water talons-first to snag fish or tadpoles. Most flights are short (less than 75 feet or so). When traveling between perches, these owls often drop, fly straight, and then rise again in a characteristic U-shaped pattern. Eastern Screech-Owls form stable matches, usually one male with one female but occasionally one male with two females. Males defend small territories containing several cavity roost spots.

Population numbers are hard to determine with their nocturnal nature, but this owl adjusts well to the presence of humans. Suburban birds often survive better than their rural kin, as suburbs provide more prey, milder climates, and fewer predators. Eastern Screech-Owls need trees to nest in, or at least nest boxes and brushy cover, but their small size, territorial tolerance, and broadly varied diet make this owl a successful survivor.

Sources: Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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