He’s been sitting outside all day long … at least I think he’s a Screech Owl. He’s really cute. But the Mockingbirds are having a fit.
Posted on April 27th, 2010Comments RSS Feed
Screech Owl at MC’s Place
Copyright © MC Coolidge
Steve
April 27, 2010 at 7:28 pmWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cares about the mockingbirds..Screech is enjoying himself..I am just worried what the cats are thinking when they see Mr.Owl?
MC
April 27, 2010 at 7:32 pmi don’t think they can see him. but he definitely sees them. he watches them like a hawk, er, um, owl.
Scott
April 27, 2010 at 10:42 pmHunting & Food: Eastern Screech Owls hunt from dusk to dawn, with most hunting being done during the first four hours of darkness. They hunt mainly from perches, occasionally hovering to catch prey. This Owl mainly hunts in open woodlands, along the edges of open fields or wetlands, or makes short forays into open fields. When prey is spotted, the Owl dives quickly and seizes it in its talons. They will also capture flying insects on the wing. Small prey will usually be swallowed whole on the spot, while larger prey is carried in the bill to a perch and then torn into pieces. An Eastern Screech Owl will tend to frequent areas in its home range where it hunted successfully on previous nights. They are opportunistic hunters and will switch to almost any suitably-sized prey when abundant. An extremely wide range of prey species is captured, the most favoured being small microtine rodents and deer mice. Other mammals taken include wood and Norway rats, chipmunks, cotton rats, squirrels,cats, shrews, bats, and moles. Large flying insects are also taken. Birds, including many species of small songbirds, and larger birds such as Northern Bobwhite, Rock Dove, and Ruffed Grouse comprise about 7% of an Eastern Screech Owl’s diet. They may be captured more often during periods of heavy songbird migration. Other prey include small fish, small snakes, lizards, and soft-shelled turtles, small frogs, toads, and salamanders, and invertebrates such as crayfish, snails, spiders, earthworms, scorpions, and centipedes. They have been observed fishing at holes in lake ice left by fishers, or at open pockets of water.
Scott
April 27, 2010 at 10:47 pmSquirrels, cats , shrews , bats , and moles.
This owl is an eating machine!!!
Keep ur cats indoors miss,too dangerous outside for them!
MC
April 27, 2010 at 10:52 pmScott,
You have horrified me! It’s nearly 11 pm and I just read your blog comment and now I’m worried about all my lovely songbirds and other critters outside with this madman at the gate. He’s so cute and sweet looking, but you’ve painted him (probably factually so!) as a ruthless, bloodthirsty bane upon the existence of everything that flies and crawls and walks about innocently on a leash.
Let the mockingbirds have their way with him tomorrow — I won’t shoo them away as I did today.
I can’t imagine falling asleep knowing he’s outside tearing things asunder. Most of all my naivete.
Thanks for informing me, monsieur le docteur
John W. Perkins
April 28, 2010 at 1:30 pmHey.. We all got to eat..