Extreme close-ups of the cute wild Eastern Screech Owlets in the nest box. Only one has opened its eyes and is getting much bigger than the other two. Fledging is expected around April 10th. Plenty of food for all. Have a few more bugs to get out of this camera/microphone setup - stay tuned.
Eastern Screech Owls continue their courtship activity in and around the nest box. A lot of comings and goings, but no eggs yet. Nightly activity is increasing and Mr. Owl seems like a reliable provider so all systems appear "Go"!
Female Eastern Screech Owl is getting the nest box reading for egg laying - hopefully in a week or so! A little early this year, but it has been a very mild winter so far in Florida. Have not spotted the male yet, but they are no doubt in the courtship process.
Eastern Screech Owl regurgitates a pellet up close. Owls remove undigested material by forming pellets and regurgitating them generally while sitting on their daytime roosts. In this case the pellet is not well formed and since we can see right into the through of Mr. Owl it looks like mostly hard insect parts of Palmetto Bugs and the like. Pellets are generally more well formed when they contain undigested hair and grass mixed in. They do this several times a day. By the expression on the owls face it is not altogether a pleasant process. Another facet of amazing owls!
Eastern Screech Owl Nest Box and Perch Placement.
The eastern Screech Owls continue their courtship around the nest box on January 22nd, this is about a month earlier than the last few years when eggs were lain around March 1st, but it has been a very mild winter and food is plentiful.
The male Screech Owl has claimed the box and now spends his nights guarding the box and hunting for food – in part to convince the female that he is a good provider. Once eggs are lain she will have to incubate them all day and most of the night and once they hatch she will be in the box 24 hours a day except for short forays out after dusk and before dawn and must depend on the male to bring food while she protects the owlets. Last year the nesting failed and three eggs were abandoned after the male stopped bringing food for some reason.
Due to habitat loss there is a serious shortage of natural tree cavities and a lot of competition and danger associated with the available natural cavities. I can not put owl nest boxes on any trees as the squirrels and snakes will take them over. With regard to owl nest box placement, I have found that the Eastern Screech Owls are not too picky as long as they feel the box is safe from other creatures and they don't have to travel too far in the open to reach it. I put the nest box under the gable end of an aluminum sided outbuilding and the entrance is about 9 feet off the ground – this should make the box safe from anything but another bird such as a Kestrel. Snakes and squirrels need not apply! You have to make sure there are no close branches that the squirrels and such can reach the building from. The owls can drop down to the camera's left to a nearby six foot wood fence behind the building and head out into the brush or go first to the Perch.
Placing a perch in front of the nest box makes a big difference in attracting the Screech Owls to nest boxes in the backyard. This perch is about 12 feet in front of the nest box and six feet off the ground. It is used as a staging area by the owls and a hunting perch. It makes the nest box much more secure and attractive to them. It is also important not to use pesticides in the backyard as that is their hunting ground and lizards, small snakes, frogs and large bugs are a big part of their diet. Links to more information is in the info section of this video.
Free High Quality Haunting Screech Owl Call Ringtone Download for YouTube Subscribers and Blog Readers!
Free Haunting Screech Owl Call Ringtone for your phone. I will try and have a new and interesting nature ringtone every other month for Blog readers and viewers of the companion Backyard Birding...and Beyond YouTube Channel. Here is theLink to the free Haunting Screech Owl Ringtone. On a desktop PC it will take you to a Google Drive page with the name "Haunting Screech Owl Ringtone.mp3" in the upper left of the page with a download arrow and there will be a "download" button in the top middle . The download address will have a coded URL, but will be put in your download directory with the name: "Haunting Screech Owl Ringtone.mp3". However, on some smart phones you'll only see the download button in the middle of the page and the coded file-name may be put in your download directory and look like a bunch of numbers and letters - this is not a problem - simply rename it to "Haunting Owl" for example - it just takes one extra step. You can download it to your desktop PC and transfer to your phone's ringtone directory via USB connection or download it directly to your phone. I will not provide technical support as there are many devices out there. On my Droid I simply downloaded it and it is stored in the download directory and then I copied it to the ringtone directory and selected it as a ringtone. I also copied it to the alarm and notification directories as it would be great for these as well. Most devices are similar. Good luck. Thanks for watching and reading and enjoy your new ringtone!
A most amazing recording of a female Eastern Screech Owl calling in an unusual manner was captured during this years breeding season as she was sitting on three eggs. This is probably a type of contact call with the male outside in a nearby tree - but is unusual for a Screech Owl call. With dozens of hours of recordings this is the only time I can recall the rhythmic trilling going on for so long. The original recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-p-ec-DHlw was captured live and lasts almost an hour with approximately one minute between calls. The original video audio trace is shown below. This short two minute video Haunting Screech Owl Calls for Halloween - contains highlights of the extended live recording and was made by editing together the first 18 consecutive calls of seven seconds each compressed in time. The audio trace of this shorter video is shown below. Also, and audio trace of an individual call is shown below and each of these calls contains more than 70 segments. You can see the owls entire body shake as she makes these amazing calls! Enjoy......
This recent story by EMMA GLANFIELDfrom the Daily Mail online in the UK of a little Tawny Owl that survived a 300 mile train ride from Glasgow to Northamtonshire is even more amazing than last year's story reported here about a Great Horned owl stuck in the grill of an SUV while it drove around south Florida for two days! In both cases, there is a happy ending! The Tawny Owl was discovered exhausted and slightly injured clinging to the front of the train in the Stobart freight terminal in Crick, Northamptonshire. It was taken to the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary where it was diagnosed with wing damage and a slight concussion and was aptly named "Lucky". Lucky is making a rapid recovery due the efforts of the fine people at the sanctuary and is expected to make a full recovery and be released back into the wild, although not back in Scotland where is presumably came from. Owls are frequently in the news when they unfortunately collide with various modes of transportation, although they are often killed, there are many stories of amazing survival such as theowl stuck in the grill of an SUV . Owls bodies are not that big under all those lightweight feathers and the special design of their feather that results in quiet flight and their bulk probably helps to cushion them in some collisions. In this case, it is more likely that rather than coming the entire 325 miles from Scotland, at some point the owl collided with the train and clung on for dear life. To let loose and risk being tumbled by the wind and/or caught in the strong slipstream around the train may well have lead to worse injury or death. In any case, all is well that ends well. And as I've said in previous posts, if you love wildlife, be aware of your nearest wildlife shelter or rehabilitation center so if you find an injured wild creature you know where to take it - and also consider donating to help the cause! In most cases, these center depend heavily on donations and volunteer labor.
"Lucky" the Tawny Owl after surviving 300 mile train trip!
Mother Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl is returning at dawn and calling softly to the male nearby as is her custom. She will spend the day sitting on the now two eggs. She will likely lay another egg tonight. Last year there were four eggs and one didn't hatch. It is obvious from the feathers in the nest box that she has eaten another small bird the previous day - that is just the way of Nature. Most of their diet consists of lizards, small snakes and large bugs.
Wearing gloves to protect herself from the injured screech owl's claws and beak, Suzanne Shoemaker gets ready to feed Angora. (Katherine Frey/Washington Post). Interesting Washington Post story on a recent influx of five injured Eastern Screech Owls at the Owl Moon Raptor Center since December. All five likely tangled with cars and that is the case for most owl injuries that come to the attention of humans. Rehab centers do great work, much of it by volunteers, but it costs money to run these operations and care for these precious creatures. Consider learning the location of your closest rehab center and donating time, money or needed equipment to help. Screech Owls live 3 or 4 years if they are lucky. One of the reasons I think we have seen the same Screech Owl breeding pair in our backyard for three years in a row is they do not have to cross any public highways, but have a 10 acre landlocked conservation area as their primary territory. Of course they cruise through the yards of the subdivision at night looking for bugs and lizards. We should soon start hearing the trilling and calling of our owls as they hopefully get ready to move into the nest box again.
Eastern Screech Owl Camouflage and Defensive Techniques - A Mini-Documentary. YouTube videos of a White-faced Scops-Owl "performing" by being frightened (i.e. abused) into changing it's appearance on a Japanese TV show for laughs led to names such as Transformer Owl, Evil Owl, Dracula Owl etc. In fact, many small owls use "Concealing Postures" or the German word "Tarnstellung" to survive in a very hostile world. Perhaps the very best small owl that does this and so much more is the relatively little observed or studied Eastern Screech Owl. Hours of footage over two years of one female Red-Morph Eastern Screech Owl guarding her nest box in Florida were combined into this short mini-documentary so that these amazing creatures can be appreciated for their tenacious survival instincts and dedication to raising their young in a natural environment.
The Real, Wild "Transformer Owl "! They have been called Transformer Owl, Shapeshifter Owl, Evil Owl, Dracula Owl etc. In fact, many small owls use "Concealing Postures" or the German word "Tarnstellung" to survive in a very hostile world. Far from evil or scary, they are amazing small creatures that have unusual adaptive ability to change their appearance. Perhaps the very best small owl that does this and so much more is the little observed or studied Eastern Screech Owl. Hours of footage over two years of one female Red-Morph Eastern Screech Owl guarding her nest box in Florida were combined into this short mini-documentary so that these amazing creatures can be appreciated for their tenacious survival instincts and dedication to raising their young in a natural environment.
More info at: http://screech-owls.blogspot.com/2012/09/transformer-screech-owls-taking.html and
Here is an interesting story out of Southfield, Michigan from Amy Akers of WLNS TV 6 Lansing - Jackson.
A baby Eastern Screech Owl that was born blind and unable to care for itself was living at the Howell Nature Center in Michigan and underwent cataract surgery by a veterinary ophthalmologist in the hopes of returning the creature to normal. It is probably unlikely that this owl could ever be returned to the wild, but hopefully I'll hear of an update on its progress and pass it on. What is fascinating about this story is how far veterinary medicine/science has evolved and the dedication of people and organizations to help injured animals. Check out the Howell Nature Center website!
Surgery completed - the little Screech Owl is coming out of Anesthesia.
Screech Owl before surgery
Doctor Gwen Sila performing eye survery on Screech Owl.
Transformer Screech Owl 2013 is patiently guarding her nest box with three owlets when a pesky and curious squirrel decides to check her out. She puffs herself up and extends her wings to look big and scary as the squirrel is right on top of her. Mrs. Owl holds her patience for quite awhile and then sends the squirrel on his way with a somewhat disgusted look. This is the same mother Transformer Screech Owl that has displayed her prodigious talent in the past by shrinking to look like a tree branch from a Red-Shouldered Hawk on the exact same spot in 2012. The only real wild transformer owl on the web!
From May 2nd, 2013 - Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl mother has been outside the nest box on a nearby branch stub all day watching over the nest box - It's now dusk - the video makes it look brighter out - and she is heading back to the nest box to begin a night of caring and feeding for the owlets.
