Stats

Lifespan

8-14 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

The Eastern Screech-Owl is a stocky, short-tailed owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. Despite its widespread distribution and frequent presence in urban and developed areas, it is usually difficult to spot, as it lives almost exclusively at night and is very adept at avoiding detection.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   One or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Strigiformes

Family

Strigidae

Genus

Megascops

Species

Megascops asio