Western Screech Owl


The western screech owl (Megascops kennicottii) is a small owl native to North and Central America, closely related to the eastern screech owl.


owl

By Anonymous - U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Central California Area Office, Public Domain, Link


Description

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. 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.

Call

The primary call is an accelerating series of short whistles at an increasing tempo or a short then long trill falling slightly at end. Other calls: barking and chuckling, similar to the eastern screech owl. They also make a high pitched screech.


owl in nest hole

By Shravans14 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link


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.

Subspecies

Text and Images taken from Wikipedia