Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read down below you have not seen Screeh owls, so i included a couple of different ones.

This is a western Screech owl, they are very small, not much larger then our elf owl, which is one of the smallest owls.

This is a whiskered screeh owl. Sorry for the bad pic, but I was not prepared and had no idea what it was, when I took the pic. I was lucky to get this shot.

This is an adult elf owl, tiny little things.

This is a brancher elf owl. Every couple of years they visit us for extended periods, If you get to close to the branchers, the adults come after you.

this is a great horned in my driveway, I can call them on almost any night.

A coop at dinner, also in my driveway.

Just to make it about OT snakes, this was down the street a couple days ago. Enjoy I hope

Great shots. I especially like the elf owls. They don't live in my neck of the woods.
By the way I didn't say I haven't seen screech owls. I said they are hard to spot or to even hear around here. Don't worry, I'm only 46 and my memory already isn't what it used to be. lol
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Randy Whittington

Hi Randy, I know what you said, and those screech owls are not in your neck of the woods.

The western screech is very small compared to a common screech owl. All those pics were on my property except the whiskered screech.

I have more pics somewhere, if I find them I will post them for you. Best wishes

The western and eastern (common) are the same size. Only the wiskered is smaller.

See many golden eagles in your area? I'd really like to see a good shot of one of those. I frequently see bald eagles at some of the areas I bird but I've never seen a golden in the wild. I havn't managed to get out west since I was a kid.
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Randy Whittington

Yea, thats what the field guide says, but the ones around here are barely larger then an elf owl. which is way smaller then normal Screech owls.

Then again, I am no birder or expert in any way. SO I could have these "western" screech owls miss ID'ed. These are tiny birds.

Also, there are normal Brown(ish) screech owls here that are much larger. But I have only seen those in town.

See is there is another mexican screech that that could be please. Thanks

They could very likely be Flammulated Owls. It's hard to tell from photos taken in the dark. Their size is in between elf and wiskered screech owls. Their eyes are darker than all the others but the flash could difinalty make them look as light as the one in your photo does. The flammulated owls ears tufts are shorter than screeches also. They are found through much of arizona.

I heard a pair of great horned owls calling back and forth this morning while out birding.
I keep going back and looking at the elf owl photos. It's hard to imagine a owl the size of a stocky sparrow.
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Randy Whittington