Q. Why are they called screech owls when the only sound I’ve ever heard them make are warbling noises that remind me of musical Morse code? A. I was able to answer this question a few years ago during ...

Three screech-owls are found in North America: eastern, western and whiskered. But about 22 screech-owl species are found in the world, all in the Americas. Estimated breeding populations of ...

Several readers have phoned with reports of “eerie, whistling sounds” coming from their neighborhoods in the past week or so. My step-daughter also heard it last weekend, from the woodlot behind my ...

Somewhere just above the cottonwoods, in that realm of darkness on a moonless night, a screech demanded attention. A second screech — every mouse foraging on the ground doubtlessly froze in place. A ...

The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best ...

Though common and widespread, it is rarely seen. More often it is heard. I’m speaking of the Western Screech Owl, the Coachella Valley’s smallest owl. Standing only eight inches tall and weighing in ...

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