It’s difficult to ID Eastern and Western screech-owl species—location is your best bet. Hear their call and learn about their ...

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 ...

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 ...

Claim to fame: Standing at a height of six to eight inches, the eastern screech owl is one of the smallest birds of prey in the United States. It is also known for its call, a quavering whistle that ...

"A screech owl only screeches when it is agitated," Kari Sandage, a naturalist at the 4500 Sioux River Road nature center, explained. "Otherwise, they will let out a whinny." Wait, a whinny as in the ...

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 ...

“It was the strangest sound I’ve ever heard. Spooky. Late at night, out in the woods, moving fast through the trees. I have it on tape. Would you like to hear it?” I stood in my safe little kitchen ...

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It was a magical time in my backyard for two weeks this past summer. One August morning I walked out the back door just at dawn to meet a friend for a “beat the heat” walk, when suddenly two birds ...