Screech Owl (Megascops asio)

This is another "cheater" photo! I took this one at science camp when one of my co-workers who is a wildlife rehabilitator / educator brought this bird to share with the campers. She calls him "Houdini" because he is so well camouflaged and can easily hide in the branches of a tree. This poor little owl is unreleasable because it has just one eye, it lost the other in a collision with a car. Screech owls are tiny, just 6 - 10 inches tall and 1/4th to 1/2 pound in weight, but what they lack in size, they make up in bravado! They will vigorously defend their territory by swooping at people who venture too close to their nest. There are gray and reddish-brown varieties of this owl. Unlike most other owls, Screech owls do not make a "whooo" sound, their call is a spine-tingling screech!