Screech Owlets

We have screech owls nesting in a bird house located about 20′ in the air, right by our house, in our small suburban lot every time there is a long, cold, spring, which holds off the nesting of the starlings. Once the owls have laid their eggs, the starlings can no longer cause them to abandon their nest, thus the need for the long, cold spring. It has happened every 5 years or so, and this was one of those years. We had 4 babies fledge one night. After fledging one night (which I witnessed) they remained in our small cluster of trees for 2 more days.

Eastern Screech Owl

We put a screech owl nesting box up in our backyard last year. Starlings nested in it last year, but this year we got an Eastern screech owl to nest and raise 2 owlets!! This is the baby Eastern screech owl after banding by our local raptor society. We were so excited to be able to hold them. They were just about ready to fledge.

Recently fledged Eastern Screech Owls

We heard a lot of racket from several birds on a recent evening. We went to investigate and spotted these 3 young screech owls perched high up in the trees with one of the parents. The parent fled upon our arrival. But these 3 just sat and stared at us, as we stared at them. Snapped this photo just as the light was fading. We’ve since spied the fledglings a couple of times around the yard at dusk. Simply adorable.