It’s difficult to ID Eastern and Western screech-owl species—location is your best bet. Hear their call and learn about their ...

The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best ...

On the chilly morning of Dec. 5, Alex Patton headed into a coffee shop in Utica. On his way out, he glanced across the nearby stream and noticed the bird in the accompanying photo. Sharp-eyed Patton ...

Q: I would really like to see a screech owl, but I never have. What’s the best way to locate one of these owls? A: These small owls are described as “common” but are notoriously challenging to spot ...

The western screech owl makes a call that doesn’t align with the bird’s name, sounding more like what local birder Nic Korte calls a “bouncing ball trill.” But while the little owl, which Korte says ...

Western scrub jays are not particularly friendly birds, but when they spot a fallen comrade, they hold screeching "funerals" for as long as a half-hour, a new study shows. Researcher Teresa Iglesias, ...

Lately, you may have heard them: “hoot” owls. No such critter named “hoot owl” appears in any field guide, but their calls earn them the moniker. The “hoo-hoo-hoo” kinds of calls belong to either ...

If you have day-hiked in the Smokies, you have undoubtedly been monitored, unawares, from a tree cavity. The unseen watcher? A winged super-predator resting with one eye open, waiting for dusk or ...

Several great horned owls live in the woods near my home in Middleton. Many a winter evening, they sing me to sleep with their “whoo-hoo-o-o, whoo” calls, which are sometimes transliterated as “Who’s ...