Deep Dive: Whiskered Screech Owls

by OBDK on November 08, 2021

The Whiskered Screech Owl is another screech owl species that you can find in America. Within the United States, they have a limited range, and are found in the southern regions of New Mexico and Arizona.1&2 From there, they can be found throughout Mexico and Central America.2 

 

These owls are slightly elusive and so we don’t know quite as much about them as we do other owl species.2 We do know, however, that they live at higher elevations than Western Screech Owls do.3  In fact, they’ll live in areas that are 5,000 feet up – in canyons or forests with oak and sycamore trees.1

 

They look a lot like the Western Screech Owl, but they’re smaller and have a very different call.1&3 They usually stand between six and eight inches tall and weigh around three ounces.2 Whiskered Screech Owls nest in cavities in oak or sycamore trees high up off the ground, and hunt during the night, starting around dusk. They’ll go after insects like caterpillars, moths, crickets, or other animals like scorpions and rodents.1

 

Is there an owl species you’d like to know more about? Let us know and we’ll be sure to cover it in a future email! 

Sources: 
  1. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/whiskered-screech-owl

  2. https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/whiskered-screech-owl

  3. Sibley’s Owls of North America, by David Allen Sibley. Published by Earth Sky + Water, LLC. 2016.



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