Living Bark
The Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) is one of our smaller owls. Cute, is a word you'll hear used to describe it...and rightly so. Combined, eastern and western screech owls can be found over most of the U.S., and the species differ in a few subtle morphological areas. The species were originally identified as separate from one another in the 1980s. Eastern's beaks are typically slightly darker. Their chest banding is usually more vertically oriented. But their calls are perhaps the best way to distinguish them, and it's most certainly the way they identify one another in areas where their ranges overlap!
Living Bark
The Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) is one of our smaller owls. Cute, is a word you'll hear used to describe it...and rightly so. Combined, eastern and western screech owls can be found over most of the U.S., and the species differ in a few subtle morphological areas. The species were originally identified as separate from one another in the 1980s. Eastern's beaks are typically slightly darker. Their chest banding is usually more vertically oriented. But their calls are perhaps the best way to distinguish them, and it's most certainly the way they identify one another in areas where their ranges overlap!