Sleepy Screech Owl
April 28th, 2015
These little guys can be remarkably well-camouflaged if you don't know to look for them! Eastern Screech-Owls roost and nest in old woodpecker holes. They look very cute and innocent when you catch one by day. By night, they prey on small birds and mammals, and make a sound that raises goosebumps on your skin.
This is an Ottawa-lister for me (i.e. the first time I've found one in Ottawa.) I'd previously seen screech owls a few times on birding trips to Point Pelee.
Here's a higher-res version.
April 28th, 2015
These little guys can be remarkably well-camouflaged if you don't know to look for them! Eastern Screech-Owls roost and nest in old woodpecker holes. They look very cute and innocent when you catch one by day. By night, they prey on small birds and mammals, and make a sound that raises goosebumps on your skin.
This is an Ottawa-lister for me (i.e. the first time I've found one in Ottawa.) I'd previously seen screech owls a few times on birding trips to Point Pelee.
Here's a higher-res version.
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Mike
April 28th, 2015 at 9:38 am
Nice catch... I hope to get a chance to go and visit him!
I don't think I'll listen to the audio at work!
ilanikhan
April 29th, 2015 at 2:32 pm
Okay, that last sentence made me have to hear it. I was expecting more screech!
What about the call gives you goosebumps? I find it a little like it should be the background noise in a horror flick - is that it?
Suzanne
April 29th, 2015 at 4:40 pm
People often do expect more screech from screech owls :-) They are misnamed. (You anticipated something more like this, maybe?)
And yes, they do sound like they should be in a horror movie to me--although maybe more of a quiet, moody ghost story than a slasher pic! Quote found on Wikipedia: "A most solemn graveyard ditty, the mutual consolation of suicide lovers remembering the pangs and delights of the supernal love in the infernal groves, Oh-o-o-o, had I never been bor-r-r-n." (James Hubbard Langille, 1884)
Suzanne
April 29th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
I would add that, as a seasoned birder, one becomes positively numb to how poorly named so many birds are. (Where's the ring on the Ring-Necked Duck? Where's the orange on the Orange-Crowned Warbler? Why are there no Tennessee Warblers in Tennessee?) You just don't think about it and don't give much credit to names. So it actually didn't occur to me that when people saw the name "Screech-Owl", they would naturally expect when following an audio link to hear a bloodcurdling screech! My oversight :-)