The Challenge

Screech owls are an important species in our environment and right now they need your help. With incoming housing developments, businesses, and industries, owls are losing their habitats. Read the page and take the quiz to complete the Owl Warrior Challenge.

About Screech Owls

• Screech owls are carnivores; their diet mostly consists of spiders, insects, frogs, small birds, lizards, and rodents.
• The owls communicate through high trills that resemble a horse’s whinny.
• Screeches are cavity nesters: they nest in the sides of tree trunks and sometimes take over old woodpecker nests.
• Screech owls prefer tree lines by fields, marshes, or creeks. Most avoid dense forests inhabited by larger nocturnal predators such as Barred or Great-Horned Owls.
• Eastern screech owls have two color morphs (red and grey) depending on the area they live in; sometimes there are different owls of different colors in the same family.

Habitat Loss

• Expanding towns and cities have led to a decrease in migratory bird habitats.
• Screech owls require trees and brush to hunt and hide from larger predators.
• A decrease in habitat directly contributes to a decrease in owls’ food supply.
• We need your help to combat habitat loss.

Ways to Help

• Advocate for habitat protections in your community.
• Protect existing habitat and provide nesting boxes.
• Plant native plants to support local ecosystems.
• Avoid using pesticides; rat poisons can harm owls by poisoning their food supply.
• Help clean up your community; litter can disrupt owls and their ecosystems.