Western Screech-owl

Also known as
Gray owl, little cat owl, little dukelet, little gray owl, little horned owl, mottled owl, red owl, scritch owl, shivering owl, squinch owl, whickering owl, whinnerying owl, Aiken's screech-owl, Guadeloupe screech-owl, Kennicott's screech-owl, California screech-owl, Pasadena screech-owl, Yuma screech-owl (Terres 1980; Johnsgard 1988).
What is the scientific name?
Otus kennicotti
Where are they located? How many subspecies are there?
From Alaska south to Mexico and from the Pacific Coast east to Idaho, Montana, western Oklahoma, and Texas. The range of a similar species, the eastern screech-owl, extends east from from these states to as far north as Quebec and as far south as Florida (Johnsgard 1988). There have been as many as 18 subspecies of the western screech-owl described. There are eight currently accepted subspecies in North America. They are: O.k. cardonensis, O.k. xantusi, O.k. aikeni, O.k. suttoni, O.k. yumanensis, and O.k. vinaceus. O.k. kennicottii occurs along the coast of Oregon and O.k. bendirei occurs in the interior of Oregon (Johnsgard 1988).
Where do they live?
Usually open woods, espcially those dominated by deciduous trees and/or riparian hardwoods with oaks or sycamores. Specific habitats are numerous and vary with the subspecies and locations (Johnsgard 1988).
What do they look like?
Gray to gray-brown with various light and dark streaks or bars. Eastern screech-owls come in both a gray phase and a red phase. There is reported to be a cinnamon/reddish phase in some areas of the western screech-owl as well. One report found 7% of the screech-owls found in British Columbia and 5% of those found in Baja California were of the cinnamon/reddish phase (Owen 1963).
How big are they?
Between 7 and 10 inches in length with a wingspread between 18 and 24 inches. Females are usually bigger than males (Terres 1980). Females weigh between 3? and 7_ and males between 3? and 6? ounces (Earhart and Johnson 1970).
How long do they live?
Between 6 and 13 years (Terres 1980). Two of the oldest screech-owls lived to be 13 years, 6 months and 12 years, 11 months, respectively (Clapp et al 1983).
What do they eat?
The screech-owl is opportunistic and eats whatever is available and easily handled. One study found their diet to consist of 87% mice and rats (Korschgen and Stuart 1972). Another study estimated that their diet was made up of the following percentages: 22¤% mice, 18% other mammals, 18% songbirds, and the remaining 41?% reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects (VanCamp and Henny 1975)..
Interesting notes: The natural habitat of screech owls have seen substantial losses due to development but it seems to be finding a home in parks and suburban areas (Johnsgard 1988). Indeed, it would seem that from the number of screech owls brought to Wildlife Images they are quite common.

The western screech owl is represented by many different subspecies and/or races, each of which vary in size and find a home in diverse habitats. As a result, the number of adjectives for the screech owl listed above (under "Also known as") were just a few of those that have been used. Some others are the Saguaro screech owl, which makes its nest in vacant cavities of saguaro cacti (complements of the local woodpeckers) and Brewster's screech owl, which is found in Western Oregon and is apparently an intermediate form of the two subspeces found in Oregon, O.a. kennicottii and O.a. bendirei.

Screech owls, as shown above, are dependent on other birds to hollow out potential nest sites from the local flora, be they trees or cacti. Looking around for available tree cavities, screech owls can sometimes use poor judgement for nest sites. Sometimes their neighbors don't apprciate them either. The following story about screech owls, written in 1911, illustrates what I mean:

A pair of these birds tried to breed in a small heating stove in the house in 1896 and again in 1897, coming down the stovepipe which had a double elbow and laying in the stove: they made too much noise scratching up and down the stovepipe and so had to be discouraged. They often lay their eggs in houses put up for martins or for pigeons and I think destroy the young birds. In May, 1908, a pair nested in the martin box at the ranch. Finding a dean martin under the box, I got a shotgun and sent a friend up the pole to investigate: an owl flew out and was promptly shot and then my friend found three young owls in the box, and brought them down, and put them under a live-oak tree in the yard. The remaining parent fed the young for a night or two on the ground, bringing them, among other things, two or three sphinx moths and a crawfish, and then persuaded them to climb into the tree. The next evening my friend was smoking after supper and the owl knocked his pipe out of his mouth. The owl next attacked the lady of the house as she was bringing in the milk, and as a final exploit struck me full in the face as I was standing near the tree, using force enough to draw blood. The next morning the whole owl family was put to death.
Well, they didn't have much of a sense of humor back in 1908. However, screech owls have been known to defend their nests much more successfully against none gun-toting agressors (Sparks and Soper 1970). 

Last updated April 16, 2006
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Copyright 2006, by Jim Rible