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Red Phase Screech Owl (1 Viewer)

JMomOhio

Well-known member
My first Owl of any kind and I have a few questions. It is in an old tree at the bottom of our property and has been there since fall. Should I expect to see little ones anytime this spring? I don't know if it's a male or female or much about them.
 

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I don't know about babies, but that is one nice photo and find.
 
Good eyes to see this guy - he blends in so well! A great photo. I don't know details but think that owls breed pretty early. It wouldn't hurt to keep a (distant) eye on this location...
 
How on earth did you see that???!!

I can't help with your questions though.

D
 
Thanks for the replies!! :) We live on a lake and run around on a Suzuki 'Mule' utility vehicle, and were coming back up to our house one evening after taking pics of a commorant. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something and it took a second to realize what I had seen. My husband was driving and a minute later I said, "STOP, GO BACK, I JUST SAW AN OWL!" LOL!! He thought I was crazy!! We turned around and went back and I was amazed that I had actually seen it!! That was in October and it's still there in the same tree. It is extremely shy! One move and it pops back down into the hole. If I only had the money to get a longer lens I could be getting some great shots! Due to its shy behavior I have to stay in our QUV to take pics. I need a 500mm lens for my Canon! lol! :) When I read up on the screech owl it said they have gray phase and red phase, but I don't know if or when they change color. I will keep you updated if babies appear! :)
 
I think the word "phase" in this situation is a little odd (though you are completely correct - this is the way the word is used), because I believe that each individual will stay that color their whole life. Someone else will have to explain how they chose "phase" to describe what appears to me to be "type".
 
I think the word "phase" in this situation is a little odd (though you are completely correct - this is the way the word is used), because I believe that each individual will stay that color their whole life. Someone else will have to explain how they chose "phase" to describe what appears to me to be "type".

Interesting question. I looked up "phase" in the OED, that great authority on the history of English words, but all I found was confusion.

Here's the "zoological" part of the definition
Zool. A particular period of an animal's life, distinguished by a characteristic form, colour of type of behaviour.

But this is contradicted in the list of examples by: ". . .the dark phase of Eleanora's falcon", the color phases of which are permanent affairs (like those of Screech Owl) not seasonal/developmental as implied by the definition.

So, the mystery remains.

Lesser dictionaries (e.g.the unabridged Random House) not surprisingly given the current zoological usages define "color phase" quite straight-forwardly to mean either a permanent or temporary state.
 
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Fugl - thanks for having a try at "phase". I've wondered about this for a while - it is so confusing when one first hears it! Perhaps we'll turn up an explanation some time.
 
That is a nice photo. Three years ago I built a box for wood ducks but a screech owl took over and has raised a brood for two years successfully now. They too are different color morphs or phases, the female a "red-head" and the male is grey. I read that they mate for life and this year I believe they are on eggs again. After the eggs are laid the male sometimes takes over incubating while the female gets to go out and hunt. I have watched them leave the nest just when it is getting too dark to see them. I got a photo on bird forum with a squirrel ontop of the box with the red owl looking out.
 
Interesting question. I looked up "phase" in the OED, that great authority on the history of English words, but all I found was confusion.

Here's the "zoological" part of the definition
Zool. A particular period of an animal's life, distinguished by a characteristic form, colour of type of behaviour.

But this is contradicted in the list of examples by: ". . .the dark phase of Eleanora's falcon", the color phases of which are permanent affairs (like those of Screech Owl) not seasonal/developmental as implied by the definition.

So, the mystery remains.

Lesser dictionaries (e.g.the unabridged Random House) not surprisingly given the current zoological usages define "color phase" quite straight-forwardly to mean either a permanent or temporary state.

The one definition of the different colors calls it "color morphs" is this correct. I think I read it from cornell univ. definition.
 
The one definition of the different colors calls it "color morphs" is this correct. I think I read it from cornell univ. definition.

Yes, that's right, "morph" is also used in this context. I tend to think of it as a somewhat more formal term than "phase", but as applied to color variations among birds the 2 words mean exactly the same thing.
 
So am I to assume that the red is the female and the gray is the male? Today I didn't see either one of them. In fact, I haven't seen the gray one in almost a week now. I'm hoping it's sitting on eggs.
 
I all three years the grey owl is the first to appear in the box and only after at least a month will the red owl appear. I have not looked into the box but I am guessing that the red owl is the female and is incubating the eggs in this month. At least eighty percent of the time the grey owl is at the opening of the box. Last year I noticed two owlets looking out with thier big wide open eyes. It is something I have waited for every spring.
 
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