Whiskered Screech Owl
By:Kaytlyn North & Hadessa Porter
Four-Step Summary By:Kaytlyn
Four step summary by:Hadessa Porter
Whiskered Screech Owl
They hunt at dusk and through the night. They hunt by watching from a perch and then making short flights out to take prey from foliage or from the ground. They may fly back and forth or hover among vegetation to take insects.
Diet:
Their Diet includes mostly large insects.They eat many caterpillars, beetles, moths, crickets, katydids, and other insects. They also sometimes eat small rodents.
Eggs
The females usually lay 3 eggs, sometimes 4. Their Incubation is mostly by female, incubation period not well known. Both parents bring food for their young. .
Description:
They are small grayish owls with golden eyes, a greenish-yellow beak, and small ear tufts. The males have whisker-like feathers which cannot be detected in fields. Females are similar to males. The young are grey or grayish-brown with faint crossbars on head and body. They also have inconspicuous ear tufts.
Size: The males are 16-20cm tall, they weigh 85g, and their wingspan is 40-50cm long. The females are 16-20cm tall, they weigh 94g (bigger than the males), and their wingspan is 40-50cm long.
Range/Habitat: The range is southern new Mexico, and Arizona. Their habitat is in dense deciduous and mixed forests at high elevations.
Voice: Their voice is often described as sounding like Morse code. The males voice sounds like a series of about 8 evenly spaced “ook” notes the last dropping in pitch. These noises are followed by 2 short notes, and 2-5 longer notes. The females voice is higher pitched. The females are often in duets with males.
Nesting: Their nesting sites are mostly in Flicker holes, high (5.5-7m) in deciduous (oak, walnut, juniper, sycamore) trees. The female lays about 3-4 eggs, and the incubation time is unknown.
Hunting habitats: They are nocturnal. They hunt from a tree perch. They sometimes flutter in tree tops catching flying insects.
Glossary
DDT: A white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, usually derived from chloral.
Deciduous: A shedding in the leaves annually, as certain trees and shrubs.
Dense: Having the component parts closely compacted together; crowded or compact.
Detected: To discover or catch (a person) in the performance of some act.
Ear Tufts: A tuft of long feathers above the eyes of some owls.
Elevation: The height to which something is elevated or to which it rises.
Faint: Lacking brightness, vividness, clearness, loudness, strength.
Flutter: To wave, flap, or toss about.
Foliage: The leaves of a plant, collectively.
Habitat: The natural environment of an organism.
Hover: To hang fluttering or suspended in the air.
Inconspicuous: Not conspicuous, noticeable, or prominent.
Incubate: To sit upon (eggs) for the purpose of hatching.
Katydid: Any of several large, usually green, American long-horned grasshoppers
Morse code: Two systems of clicks and pauses, short and long sounds, or flashes of light.
Nocturnal: Of or relating to the night
Perch: A pole or rod, usually horizontal, serving as a roost for birds.
Vegetation: All the plants or plant life of a place, taken as a whole.
Wingspan: The distance between the wing.