Eastern screech-owl

On the morning of May 5th, Eve came in from the back yard and said she saw an owl out there. After I got my camera we went outside and I asked her to show me where she found the bird. She pointed, and at first I couldn’t see the small owl, but then suddenly I made it out. While still at a distance I started taking pictures, not knowing if the owl would stay put, but it did, and I managed to get pretty close as I continued photographing. Only after I moved really close did the owl finally get tired of me and fly away to another tree.

I know almost nothing about birds, so I looked in The Birds of Texas and decided this is most likely an eastern screech-owl, Megascops asio, which grows to between 6 and 9 inches in height. The tree isn’t native but the bird certainly is.

UPDATE. A raptor rehabilitator that a friend of mine knows added this observation: “Typical adult Eastern Screech Owl, he’s just trying to be invisible by blending into the tree. They pull their feathers in close to the body & put up the ear tufts, close the eyes to a slit and disappear into the forest. This guy is annoyed that someone interupted his day of sleep.”

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman