Screech Owl Pair

By Mike Coll, Preserve Manager

Two days after my first ever sighting of a red morph Screech Owl I was pleased to see both the grey and red morph owls together in the box. It is now my view that the red morph is a female and the grey morph is likely the same male owl that has been roosting in the box throughout the winter.

You can see in this picture that the head of the lighter colored owl (red morph) is slightly larger than the grey owl, again suggesting that it is a female.

The pair stayed in the box all day yesterday, alternately preening the other’s feathers.  Today only the female owl has returned to the box, but I think that is still a hopeful sign.