Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)

Abundance: Fairly Common at all seasons throughout the portion of the Region lying below 400 m [1320 ft]; probably Uncommon above that elevation, as on the Cumberland Plateau, but supportive data thin.

Status: Permanent Resident; Regional population probably stable, but insufficient data available from the Regional bird-monitoring effort to be certain (LINK to Regional Bird Monitoring Plan); photograph (1 rufous morph; 16 February 2009; near Alexandria, extreme eastern Wilson County, Tennessee [i.e., just outside the Region]; DianeTatum).

Regional High Count and FBC High Count: 27 (29 September 2007; White County [FBC]; m. ob.); CBC High Count: 16 (22 December 1999; Clay County; m. ob.); SBC High Count: 6 (12 May 2007; Putnam County; m. ob.).

Breeding: Recent (Confirmed).

Habitat: Woodlands of many types including those typical of much suburbia. Limited primarily by availability of suitable nesting cavities.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 9 (of 125) surveys in 2003 and 34 (of 206) surveys in 2004, indicating that the screech-owl was very uncommon (2003) and uncommon (2004) in Regional yards and neighborhoods during the YardWatch effort.

Foray Results: Abundance and distribution based on UCR Foray data are mapped as follows:

• Clinton County Foray--12-14 June 2009
• Jackson County Foray--29 May-1 June 2009
• Pickett County Foray--22-25 May 2009--no data
• DeKalb County Foray--23-26 May 2008
• White County Foray--28-31 May 1982
• White County Foray--25-28 May 2007

Remarks: Most records derive from screech-owls that call in response to a recording of their tremolo; based on data obtained from FBCs, CBCs, and SBCs, the response rate to such recordings appears to be greatest during fall, next greatest during early winter, and lowest during late spring.  The low incidence of screech-owl registrations during Regional forays may indicate a low response rate to recordings at that season (very late spring and early summer) as well.

    Screech-owls exhibit pronounced color morphism.  The majority (c. 80%) of the Regional population consists of rufous morph individuals while the minority (c. 20%) consists of gray morph individuals, a ratio that is consistent with the ratios found in Tennessee and Kentucky generally.  A third color morph, brown, is present in more southerly populations of this species, but it does not appear to be present in the Regional population.  Some data relating to the color morphs of road-killed screech-owls in the Region may be viewed via the link below:

• Screech-Owl Morph Project in the UCR

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying data about this species, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited