Red Screech finds a friend

Red Screech Owl in his/her own roost hole - 12/ 7/05
Photo by Lincoln Karim


The grey-phase Owl at his own roost hole - 11/ 30/05
Photo by Cal Vornberger



The following hot item appeared on e-birds yesterday:

Today (Saturday) the red phase screech owl was not in the black locust where it usually is, but the gray phase was present in the sycamore/London plane tree. * Then, while we were watching the gray, the red phase poked its head up from the same hole! The gray phase flew out at 4:55. He perched nearby for a few minutes as though waiting for the red, but then flew away. The red phase flew out about ten minutes later.

Ken Hicks

*Note from Marie: The two roost holes are both in the Ramble, but not by any means close to each other. If you're wondering why I'm not more specific about the owls' locations, I've posted the explanation before and will briefly repeat: Revealing owl locations violates Birders' Etiquette. Since owls , unlike song birds, generally remain in the same location all day -- sleeping -- they are vulnerable to predation or mischief. If you are a birder in Central Park, other birders will happily show you an owl's location. But for the birds' safety, the information must not go out on a post read by the general public.