The Screech Owl

By Al Lowe
Contributor

In a great deal of Ontario, we have several small owls. One of these is the Screech Owl (Otus asio). which lives in some of the very southern parts of Northwestern Ontario but is not really very common anywhere up here.

This owl doesn't really screech, but makes a sort of wailing sound, starting high and coming down in pitch. It certainly is not a nice sound, and has often been associated with ghosts or being from another world. Lots of people still think that the sound of the Screech Owl means that something bad is about to happen, or someone is going to die.

In parts of the Cajun country of Louisiana, if you hear a Screech Owl at night, you are supposed to get out of bed, and turn your left shoe upside down. That will save you from the evil spirits.
Well, back to reality. There are two very different colour phases of this little owl - grey and red. The red ones are really quite red, with a lot of the feathers about the colour of the red fox.

The Screech Owl is only about the size of a robin but because its feathers are fluffed out, it looks a lot stockier. It is also the only small owl with "ears". These are not really ears, of course, but are just tufts of feathers. Some of the bigger owls have them, too.
This little owl favours open woodlands, orchards and 'edge' woods. It usually nests in holes in trees, old woodpecker holes being a favourite. It will take up residence in a suitable bird box once in a while.
It also likes to spend the day in a cavity. It really is a 'night-owl' and won't come out in the daytime at all if it can help it.

Food is just what you might expect about a small bird of prey. Small animals are good - mice, voles, bats, frogs. It also like the larger insects, especially the big night-flying moths. Sometimes when a lot of those big Lunars or Cecropi gather around a street light, a family of Screech Owls will gather there, too. They take small birds if they can, but since most of our little birds are active only during the day, this is not really of much account.