Screech Owls

Screech Owls

Interesting Facts

The Eastern screech-owl is Georgia's most common owl. In fact, screech owls commonly live in both rural and suburban areas as long as they can find open woodlands or backyards dominated by mature trees.

In rural locations the screech owl may range over 75–100 acres. However, in suburban locales its range is sometimes as small as 10–15 acres. The size of the owl’s home range is determined largely by the availability of food. Ranges tend to be smaller where food is most abundant.

Like all species of native wildlife that use natural cavities, suitable nesting and roosting sites are often at a premium. Each year logging, land clearing and other activities reduce the number of cavity trees. As a result, screech owls must compete for these sites with wood ducks, squirrels, starlings, house sparrows, raccoons and a host of other species.

Screech owls can often be found using abandoned northern flicker cavities. While they will nest within a few feet of the ground, most screech owls nest in cavities 10–30 feet above the ground.

Screech owl on tree, red phase — Eastern screech owl in red phase (*Photo: Todd Schneider/GADNR*)

Nesting Facts

Nesting begins in spring
Males attract females to their territories which contain 1–2 cavities
Each female lays 4–6 eggs which she incubates for 27–30 days
The male feeds the female during incubation
Both the male and female feed the young making 10–70 feeding trips per night
Young screech owls fledge in 6–8 weeks
Screech owls have one brood per year

Plumage

The plumages of the male and female are alike. Screech owls have two color phases, red (reddish-brown) or gray. In Georgia, most screech owls are gray; however, red birds predominate further north. Occasionally, a nesting pair will be made up of both a red phase bird and a gray phase bird.