The Eastern Screech-owl family that I saw on Saturday evening is still hanging around the Harland family's yard at Salem Ranch in Flanagan, IL. On Monday evening, the Harlands found four owls, two adults and two owlets, roosting and facing the same direction in the same tree like they were posing for family photos. The next day, on Tuesday, May 22, when Craig invited me to see the owls roosting in his yard, I observed six owls, two adults and four owlets, in the same tree. Unfortunately, they were not all sitting facing the same direction, but I was able to photograph all of the owls, or so I thought until the Harlands counted seven owls the next day. Below is a gallery of the birds. Notice the difference in appearance between the two adults. Am I correct to attribute this difference to posture and size? Is there an easy way to tell the male and female of the species apart? Is one usually larger than the other? If the difference can be attributed to posture, it seems that one of the adults consistently chooses a more stretched out posture than the other. Do certain screech-owls prefer maintaining one posture over another? The two sets of owlets are also different in appearance? Can this be attributed to age? How many owlets do screech-owls normally have at once? Do screech-owls typically roost out in the open like this? I thought they roosted in cavities. Also, I found it interesting that there are several dead trees in the Harlands' yard with a lot of cavities.
I love these photos! I hear screech owls every summer in our Normal neighborhood, but I never see them. They really do blend in with the tree bark in these shots. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura! I have plans for a screech-owl box if you would like to build one.
ReplyDeleteI love these cute little owls, I have only seen owls twice in 20 years in my neighborhood, are they shy of old women and big fluffy dogs???
ReplyDeleteThanks Anne! No, they are very difficult to find since they are nocturnal. If you are out in the woods enough, you can get lucky and see them roosting in a tree. Many owls seem to like evergreen trees especially during winter. The reason I was able to see these Eastern Screech-owls was because a friend of mine heard and saw them flying around his yard at night. He even told me what tree to look in during the day.
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