Whiskered Screech-Owl
Whiskered Screech-Owl
Megascops trichopsis
At a Glance
In mountains near the Mexican border, this little owl is common in the oak woodlands. Although its voice is distinctive, it looks very much like the Western Screech-Owl, which is common in the same general region. The Whiskered is a little smaller and lives mostly at higher elevations. Western and Whiskered screech-owls are often found side by side in the lower parts of canyons in Arizona, where the desert gives way to oaks and sycamores.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Owls
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Forests and Woodlands
Region
Southeast
Behavior
Direct Flight, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
200.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Permanent resident.
Description
6 1/2-8" (17-20 cm). Like Western Screech-Owl but smaller, with smaller feet, coarse plumage pattern, yellow-green base of bill. Best known by sound.
Size
About the size of a Robin, About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Gray, White, Yellow
Wing Shape
Broad, Rounded
Tail Shape
Rounded, Short, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
A series of low whistles in a distinctive Morse code-like pattern: hoo-hoo hooo hoo, hoo-hoo hooo hoo, and so on. Also a rapid hoohoohoohoo.
Call Pattern
Falling, Flat
Call Type
Chatter, Hoot, Scream, Trill
Habitat
Canyons, pine-oak woods, oaks, sycamores. Favors habitat with relatively dense, broad-leaved oaks, both in pure stands and in mixed woodland with pines, generally above 5000'. In Arizona canyons, often common in groves of sycamores next to oak woodland.
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Behavior
Eggs
3, sometimes 4. White. Incubation is probably mostly by female, incubation period not well known.
Young
Both parents probably bring food for young. Development of young and age at first flight not well known. Parents may feed young for some time after they leave nest.
Feeding Behavior
Hunts at dusk and through the night. Hunts by watching from a perch and then making short flights out to take prey from foliage or from the ground; may fly back and forth or hover among vegetation to take insects. Captures most prey with feet.
Diet
Mostly large insects. Eats many caterpillars, beetles, moths, crickets, katydids, and other insects; also other arthropods, including centipedes and scorpions. Sometimes eats small rodents.
Nesting
Breeding behavior is not well known. Males defend breeding territory by singing at night, and may vigorously attack intruding males. Members of mated pairs call in duet, also nibble at each other's bills and preen each other's feathers. Nest site is in cavity in tree such as oak or sycamore, either an abandoned woodpecker hole or a natural hollow; nest sites often 10-30' above ground.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Locally common, and numbers apparently stable, in limited range in United States.
Climate Threats Facing the Whiskered Screech-Owl
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
