The secretive Eastern screech owl is a common owl in North America.
By Sarah Daniels, Wildlife Care Specialist
The secretive Eastern screech owl is a common owl in North America. They are nocturnal predators that eat small prey such as moths, bats, tadpoles, songbirds, moles, voles and mice. Eastern screech owls hunt from a perch about ten feet off the ground and swoop down to catch their unsuspecting prey. All Eastern screech owls need a forested area to hunt and to breed. Like most other owls, screeches nest in hollowed out trees and don’t construct nests. They simply make do with whatever is in the hollows, be it bare ground, twigs or droppings. They lay two to six eggs each season and when the babies hatch they are blind and helpless. The male brings food to the female who then tears the meal into small pieces for each nestling to eat. The nestlings are little fluffy poofs of grey down. It isn’t until they are almost fully grown that they show their true color morph, either a grey phase or a red “rufous” phase. On rare occasions there is a color in between that looks almost brown, which is called the intermediate phase. When juveniles are ready to leave the nest about a month after they hatch, they weigh four to eight ounces (120 to 140 grams) and are six to nine inches tall. They are very small and prolific predators!
Rufous came to the Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in 2014 with injuries to his wing, eye and head mostly likely due to a vehicle strike. After a few months, Rufous was test flown and was not able to fully extend one of his wings, making him unable to fly well enough to hunt or get very high off the ground. Because of that, he was not releasable and became an Animal Ambassador. Due to his small size and docile nature, Rufous adjusted well to life at the center. He even has a roommate you may have seen, Savanna the short-eared owl. They are the perfect pair, as Rufous is mostly nocturnal spending most of the daylight hours snoozing in his comfortable nest box and Savannah mostly crepuscular, active mostly in the dawn and dusk.
Rufous is taken on walks around the park regularly as part of his training and enrichment. Enrichment is very important to keep a captive bird healthy and is a great experience for visitors who might not have been lucky enough to see him poking his head out of his nest box. Come visit Rufous in the Wildlife Yard from 9 am to 5 pm daily!