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The screech owls will use the boxes during the day to
roost and leave at night to go hunting. We will try and
use the external PTZ camera to locate the owl at night
hunting if in the range of the owl boxes. During the day
we will position the PTZ camera on the box the owl is
roosting in. When the owl roosts in the morning it will
sit at the opening of the owl box for 1/2 to 1 hour
before going in to roost for the day. Before the owl
leaves the owl box at night it will sit at the opening
for 1/2 to 1 hour before leaving. The PTZ camera will
give you an outside view of the owl during these times. |
Welcome to the Eastern
Screech Owl Research Project
The purpose of
this site is to study the Eastern Screech Owl behaviors during the winter roosting and
spring nesting periods. The winter roosting period is
typically between October to March, and the nesting
period from March to June. During the fall of 2011 we
discovered an Eastern Screech owl roosting in one of the
nest boxes we had put up. We quickly installed a webcam
into the box to watch the owl. On advice from local
screech owl expert, Dick Byers, we installed several
more owl boxes in the same area and started a study to
monitor their behaviors. Although screech owls are
fairly common little is known about their behaviors
since they are nocturnal.
In our study we fitted nine artificial owl boxes with a small
infrared video camera and a small audio MIC. The video cameras
used were 1.20” in diameter and 4” long and include (8) infrared
LED’s which produce an infrared illumination source in the 940nm
range, which do not emit any visible red glow.
Screech Owl Breeding Season
During the snows and winds between late December and
mid-February, male screech owls return to the previous
year’s breeding sites. These may be holes in trees or
nest boxes. screech-owlHere they reclaim their
territory, calling frequently, and roosting in both
their nest cavity and in nearby trees. By mid-March,
when the trees have begun to bud and crocuses have
pushed their way up through the soil, the females join
them, returning from whatever hunting grounds they
inhabited through the winter. Prior to egg laying, the
two engage in frequent calling, mutual preening, and
mating.
The females will usually spend a few days roosting in
various places around the nesting site. At this time,
the male often occupies the nest cavity, calling from
within. Then, either the female joins the male or
occupies the nest on her own. Once inside, she leaves
only at dusk and perches nearby where the male feeds
her. Throughout her time in the nest, the male roosts
nearby and maintains vocal contact with soft trills.
This is an excellent time to observe them.
Screech Owl Eggs
Usually by the third week of March, egg laying begins.
Although most owl species lay eggs in two day intervals,
screech owls tend to produce their first three eggs on a
daily basis. After the third egg, longer intervals take
place between laying, sometimes greater than the two day
interval. Four eggs is the average for a clutch, but
clutches of five and six are not unusual. Like other
cavity nesting birds, screech owl eggs are plain white.
(The eggs of birds that nest in cavities do not need to
be camouflaged like the eggs of open nesters.)
Incubation
During incubation, the female applies a bare patch on
her underside to each egg in turn to keep them at the
necessary temperature for development. While the female
watches over and incubates the eggs, the male hunts the
area and faithfully delivers prey. It takes 29 to 31
days on average for the eggs to hatch, so most screech
owl broods are hatching as the leaves are unfolding on
the trees in late April. Surprisingly, only about 50% to
60% of screech owl eggs hatch. (Many other owls hatch
out 80% or more.)
During incubation, the males roost at distances of
fourteen to twenty feet from the nest, but at hatching
time, the males move in as close as six feet. Once the
clutch has hatched, the male then moves further away
again. So, keeping an eye on the movements of the male
can give good indications of what is happening in the
nest.
Young Screech Owl Development
Brooding females take a 10 to 30 minute break from their
duties usually twice a night—once around dusk and once
around dawn. Such breaks are a good time for the female
to preen, defecate, stretch her wings, and interact with
the male.
Males always bring their prey in whole or headless at
best. It is the female’s role to tear apart the large
items into pieces the young can swallow. This is typical
among owls. If the male arrives at the nest with prey
when the female is taking her break, he simply tosses in
the prey whole as usual.
The young screech owls grow fast and take anywhere from
24 to 32 days to reach adult weight with fully formed
flight feathers. At this point, the parents indulge in a
little encouragement for the kids to leave the nest by
withholding food. In fact, they will actually remove
cached prey items from the nest at this point to further
reduce food availability.
The Fledging Period
Around late May or early June one young screech owl
after the other ventures outside, taking short hopping
flights to nearby branches. Despite their adult size and
fully developed feathers, fledglings cannot fly and rely
on a few days dependency to flap their wings and develop
the necessary muscles. During this stage, the fledglings
tend to group together, waiting for food from both
parents. After three to five days, the young are able to
make flights of up to thirty feet; and by their second
week they can keep up with their parents.
The fledging period of screech owls is the most
dangerous time in the birds’ lives. This is when they
are most vulnerable to predators and accidents due to
their inexperience. The birds must learn quickly to
adapt to their immediate environment.
By their second week, they may have moved as much as 300
feet from the nest. Now the young screech owls begin to
hunt, insects at first. They are still clumsy, and less
successful in catching prey than the adults, but they
are learning. This period in which the young remain in
the nesting area lasts for eight to ten weeks during
which the young birds hone their skills.
Fledgling Dispersal
By August or early September, the birds have become
proficient hunters and have learned to avoid danger and
are ready to move on to their own territories. They are
now taking the full range of prey, from crickets and
moths to shrews and mice. Unlike barn owls, which often
disperse hundreds of miles, young screech owls do not
migrate and only move relatively short distances away
from where they were raised. Most yearling screech owls
are found breeding 1 ¼ to 2 miles away from their natal
area. |
