Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio Habitat: Eastern Screech Owls live in woodlands and farm groves, but they can be found in any area with some open ground and large trees. The range of the Western Screech Owl is limited to the western part of the United States. This is the species that gave the Screech Owls their name. OUR DATA: We use the most recent data from these primary sources: AnAge, UMICH, Max Planck, PanTHERIA, Arkive, UKC, AKC. The range of the Eastern Screech Owl is from Asking "where do owls live" is almost always dependent on the exact species of owl you're wondering about. The Eastern Screech-Owl has three color-morphs; rufous, brown, and gray. Eastern Screech-Owl numbers are difficult to determine owing to their nocturnal lifestyle. It prefers higher elevations than the screech owl and seeks out extremely dense forests of oak, oak-pine and sycamore. Generally, however, make their nests in cavities, such as hollow trees or crevices in cliffs. The voice of the Eastern Screech Owl (described above) is different than that of its western counterpart. Its body can either be gray all over or rufous, a brownish-red color with dark streaks. Range now overlaps that of the western screech owl in eastern Colorado, along the Cimarron River, in extreme southwest Kansas, and in Texas east of the Pecos River to near San Angelo. The whiskered screech owl (Otus trichopsis) closely resembles the eastern screech owl but only has two color variants — gray and red. Records show that they have lived for almost 20 years. Discover How Long Eastern screech-owl Lives. They may be mobbing a screech-owl, swooping around it with loud calls. The North American Breeding Bird Survey estimate that between 1966 and 2015, numbers increased in Canada, but declined in the U.S. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 900,000 with 95% living in the U.S., 4% in Mexico, and 1% in Canada. The Eastern Screech Owl is one of the smallest of the all owl species in North America. The range of the Eastern owls overlap slightly with their Western counterparts, and their mysterious, eerie trill would catch anyone’s attention especially in the dark of the night. In addition to large ear tufts, the little owl has large yellow eyes and a yellow beak. They do this in order to make the owl move, thus alerting other birds to the predator’s presence and teaching younger birds about the danger. While the oldest recorded Eastern screech owls have lived for about 14 years and 2 months in the wild, in captivity, their life expectancy is much higher. Gray morphs dominate the northern and western portions of the range. Rufous morphs predominate across the Southeast, while brown morphs are mostly restricted to peninsular Florida. These two species were once thought to be the same. Both colors make the Eastern Screech Owl very difficult to see against the bark of trees, where it lives. Not only do Eastern Screech Owls screech, they also bark, hoot, rasp, chuckle, and whinny. Like other owls, Eastern Screech-Owls regurgitate pellets that contain indigestible fur and bones; finding these pellets beneath a tree may be one clue to an owl's presence. Only 10 inches tall and well-camouflaged, the Eastern Screech Owl is more often heard than seen. Most owls eat small mammals, birds, snakes and insects, and they usually hunt at night. The Western Screech Owl … Life in the Suburbs. Conservation. One thought to be the same, the differing voices of the Eastern and Western Screech Owls is one reason they are now classified as distinct owl species. Preferring deciduous or mixed-wood forests, Eastern Screech Owls like to nest in holes in dead snags. This is the very species of owl from which the entire ‘Screech Owls’ got their name.