Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)

Eastern Screech-Owl [ventral view of rufous morph adult displaying some features of the concealment posture]. Photograph Credit: Diane Tatum; near Alexandria, extreme eastern Wilson County, Tennessee [i.e., just outside the Region]; 16 February 2009.

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; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are few but suggest the population residing in the Region is stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; photograph (above).

Regional High Count and FBC/FBB High Count: 29 (3 October 2009; White County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.); CBC/CBB High Count: 16 (22 December 1999; Clay County, Tennessee [CBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 6 (12 May 2007; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Breeding: Recent (Confirmed).  The screech-owl is an obligate cavity nester; it readily uses nest boxes erected for Wood Ducks or the slightly smaller boxes built specifically for screech-owls.

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) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 34 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, indicating that the screech-owl was Very Uncommon (2003) and Uncommon (2004) in Regional yards and neighborhoods during the YardWatch effort; these frequency classifications indicate that this owl was somewhat less likely to be encountered at YardWatch sites than in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Most Regional records derive from screech-owls that call in response to a recording of their tremolo and/or whinny call. 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 appears to consist of rufous morph individuals while the minority (c. 20%) consists of gray morph individuals, a ratio that is fairly consistent with the ratios obtained in Tennessee and Kentucky using data derived from counts of road-killed screech-owls; however, some data derived from examination of live screech-owls in nest boxes reveal a slightly different percentage of these two morphs, with the percentage of gray morphs being somewhat more than 20% and the percentage of rufous morphs being somewhat lower than 80%.  A third color morph (brown) is present in more southerly populations of this species and has been documented to be a rare component of the Regional population, initially by Jackie B. Elmore, Sr., in Pulaski County, Kentucky, during October/November 1982 [ Jackie B. Elmore notes] and later by Judy C. Fuson in DeKalb County, Tennessee, during March 2010.  Some data relating to the color morphs of road-killed screech-owls in the Region may be viewed at the page accessible via this link:

• EASO Morph Project in the UCR

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited