Brandon Twp – Sadly, experts say Brandon residents are no longer likely to see the haunting heart-shaped face of a Barn Owl in these parts, again.
“Barn owl numbers are way down due to poor habitat and fewer wide-open meadows,” said naturalist and township resident Jonathan Schechter.
“There are only a few dozen barn owls left in the state.”
Screech Owls, on the other hand, are abundant throughout Brandon. Unlike the Barn Owl, the screech are expanding their habitat by becoming adaptable to urban areas. It is no longer uncommon to hear the noisy territorial squabble in parks and backyards.
Like the Barn Owl, the Eastern Screech is smaller in size, standing between eight to ten inches, and tipping the scales at a feather-ish weight of seven ounces.
The Screech coloration ranges from reddish to gray, from tip of its tufted ears to tail.
The non-migrational eastern screech is strictly a nocturnal hunter which accounts for their very large eyes. With its 22-inch wing span the screech hunts for food, gliding silently over fields and meadows for morsels of mice, shrews, grasshoppers, frogs, moths, and beetles.
Like most owls, screech’s are territorial, establishing mating roost in the fall, most often in old apple orchards in the hollow of trees.
“Owls are very vocal around this time of year because they are territorial, you can always hear them near Halloween,” said Schechter.
Combining the fervent house hunting activities in dauntingly dark orchards with the eerie quivering whistle of the Screech, one could easily lend to the legend of owls haunting Halloween.
Screech’es often homestead, off the ground, in abandoned nests at the edge of wooded areas, or old woodpecker homes. Like other owls, Screeches swallow their prey whole and regurgitate the indigestible parts into pellets, often found littered outside of the nest.
Mating for life, Screech Owls normally lay four to five eggs in the early spring. At around 26 days old, the fledglings begin solo flights while their parents frantically dive bomb intruders.
Otus Kennicotti is the Latin term for the screeh owl. Otus meaning “horned owl.” The Screech looks similar to a tiny Great Horned owl because of the tufts of feathers around their ear openings. However Great Horned Owls are much larger, standing up to 14 inches, than the Screech Owl.
Great Horned Owls are also adaptable to the area, which Schecter said are abundant. They too are night gliders, silently scouting fields for rabbits, skunks, snakes, and, according to Schecter, on occasion willing small cats.
There are Barreds, another owl common to the area, similar in size to the Horned Owl, living in swampy wet areas, also feeding on rodents, fish, and snakes. Schechter said identifying a Barred Owl by its hoot is easy because they make a sound similar to “who cooks for you” with a southern drawl.
The not so common Saw-Whet Owl can also be found in the fields and orchards of Michigan, and on occasion will adapt to rural settings. Similar in size and sound to the Screech, the six inch squeaky whistlers are territorial, hunt smaller prey and nest in trees.
Schechter said the Saw-Whet Owl got its name from the old loggers who would hear the birds chirping in the woods above them. The sound the owls make is similar to the noise of ax blades being sharpened on a sharpening stone, otherwise known as a whetstone, at the logging camp.
Wheather it’s screeches, chirps, hoots, whistles, or howls that fill the Halloween night air, all owls are protected by federal and state law. It is illegal to have in your possession so much as an owl feather.
If one is found dead or injured contact the Department of Natural Resources at (517) 373-1263.
Photo by Bob Flath