Look and listen: Screech owls a popular find

Because most of Washington’s 15 species of owls are nocturnal, most folks seldom encounter them. But listen carefully. In any Yakima-area neighborhood with lots of big trees, at night you may just hear a mellow and softly whistled call in the pattern of a bouncing ball that accelerates: too too too too tootootootootootoo.

That is the western screech owl, the most common owl in this area.

WHERE AND WHEN: Yakima is fortunate to have areas of “urban forest,” areas of older homes with lots of big and mature trees, both broadleaf and coniferous species.

As these big trees age, holes develop — from woodpeckers whacking away at the trunks, or from branches or limbs breaking off.

These cavities provide roosting and nesting sites for many birds. The western screech owl depends on such cavities, and is found mainly in areas of the city with older trees or along the Yakima River or other major creeks in the lowlands. As a resident species, these owls might be found here in any season. However, they call most frequently in late winter and early spring, and again in fall.

HOW TO SPOT ONE: Good luck with this one, because the western screech-owl is rarely seen. It’s grayish, about the length of a starling but much stockier, with a short tail, squarish head with “ears” that are actually tufts of feathers. These can be flattened. Its eyes are yellow with black pupils. One screech-owl has been regularly found this winter from the Yakima Area Greenway path at the north end of the Yakima Area Arboretum.

Where the trail starts to ascend to the Yakima River dike, look west about 50 feet to a dense clump of cottonwoods. Look for the owl in a large crotch of a mature cottonwood. Please stay on the trail to observe this bird, as it invariably retreats out-of-view into the cavity if you approach any closer.

CHOW TIME: This owl perches on a branch and swoops down to prey when seen or heard. Small rodents such as mice and voles are an important year-round food source. In the warmer months, large insects (moths, beetles) are eagerly sought. Also taken are snakes, frogs, tiny fish and even the occasional small bird.

SOCIAL LIFE: Screech-owls nests in cavities beginning in late winter. About two to five eggs are laid, incubated mostly by the female for 26 days. The young leave the nest after about four weeks.

WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW: Yakima’s urban forest, valuable for wildlife, is actually catalogued. Folks interested in our urban forest inventory these trees at five-year intervals and update the composition of this forest: size, age and species make-up. In 1998, an estimated 140,000 trees comprised the Yakima’s urban forest.

A statistically valid sampling revealed 122 species of trees.  A scattering of Northern Red and English Oaks are considered prized specimens.
• Wildlife Moment, focusing on native wildlife, typically runs in Outdoors on the first Thursday of every month, with the cooperation of the Yakima Valley Audubon Society.