Western Screech-Owl
Megascops kennicottii
Pint-sized, cryptically patterned gray owl with fine streaks of black and white; short ear tufts. Found in a variety of wooded habitats, but favors riparian and deciduous areas. Can be found in urban areas and parks. Feeds mostly on small mammals, birds, and insects. Nests in cavities. Listen for its voice at night: a series of short whistled notes that accelerates at the end. Unlike counterpart, Eastern Screech-Owl, they do not have a rufous color morph, only gray morph.
Identification
Length averages 22 cm (8.7 in), wingspan 55 cm (22 in), and weight 143 g (5.0 oz). Weight ranges from 88 to 220 g (3.1 to 7.8 oz). Females are larger than males and northern populations are notably larger than southern populations. Adults are larger than whiskered screech owls, with larger feet and a more streaked plumage pattern.<p>There are several morphs: brown Pacific, grey Pacific, Great Plains, Mojave, and Mexican. All have either brown or dark gray plumage with streaking on the underparts. There is no red morph. This brown and gray streaky coloring allows the owl to camouflage with trees and hide from predators.<p>They have a round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes, and a yellowish bill. Their appearance is quite similar to whiskered and eastern screech owls, so it is best to identify them by their calls. They were previously considered to be the same species as the eastern screech owl.
Taxonomy
Genus: Megascops; Family: Strigidae; Order: Strigiformes.
- Scientific name
- Megascops kennicottii
- Authority
- (Elliot, DG, 1867)
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Megascops
Range and habitat
The western screech owl is native to Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.Its habitat includes temperate forests, subtropical and tropical montane forests, shrubland, desert, rural fields, and even suburban parks and gardens.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Rarely found north of cold subantarctic waters; ranges south to pack-ice in summer. Adult has a gray head, thick black underwing margins like much commoner Black-browed Albatross. Immatures look similar to Black-browed overall, but told by black bill that soon develops yellow along top, and often with variable gray hood. Yellow bill edges narrower than the more lightly built Buller’s Albatross, which occurs to the north but is often mistaken for Gray-headed.
Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant
Anairetes reguloides
Attractive but rather local little bird of scrubby habitats and dense hedgerows in lowland desert. Mostly stays well hidden, hopping low to high in bushes and trees, tail sometimes held cocked. Sings from atop a bush or other prominent low perch. Readily identified by long spiky crest with a flashy white median patch. Male has solidly black face and throat while female has a whitish face and throat with black streaks. Immature has a plainer face with a whitish throat and shorter crest, but still has a big white flash in crest.
Blue-throated Bee-eater
Merops viridis
A bright green insect hunter with a long bill and triangular starling-like wings. Adult has a bright blue throat, orange-brown crown and nape, and long trailing central tail feathers. Sexes are alike. Juveniles have a paler blue throat, no orange-brown coloration, and no long tail extensions. Often hunts from exposed perches such as telephone lines or snags, on which it rubs its venomous quarry so as to disarm it. Call is a bright, inflected “chileep.”
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