Screech Owl –
The screech owl sounds like a spooky, mysterious creature, but it’s really just a small gray bird. Do you see the camouflaged owl in this picture? It is hard to tell where cottonwood tree stops and owl begins. This a female whose mate drowned in the stock tank two years ago. Screech owls pair up for life and have the same little hole they go to each night.
Screech owls eat insects and sometimes small rodents or lizards. They are about the size of a woodpecker but look much bigger. Screech owls are nocturnal, like any owl. They catch their prey using super hearing and silent wing beats in the dark of night.
Probably the most interesting thing about screech owls is that they have a whole language of trills, clicks, and snapping noises. In the middle of a long summer night you will hear their other–worldly calls. Even when you know what it is, their calls make you imagine all kinds of night terrors. What a wonderful thing an owl is.
