Bearded Screech Owl

The bearded screech owl is the smallest of its genus in North America. It is 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.9 in) long; males weigh about 63 g (2.2 oz) and females 72 g (2.5 oz). In addition to being heavier, females have somewhat longer wings and tails, and in both sexes the wings extend past the tail. The species has two color morphs. In general the predominant one is light gray-brown and the other dark reddish, but more females seem to be of the reddish morph. Intermediates are known. Adults of the gray-brown morph have upperparts of that color with a "collar" and heavy spotting of whitish gray. Voice: The bearded screech owl's territorial song is "a quiet and low-pitched, cricket-like trill of 3-5 in duration, rising and dropping at the end." Both sexes sing, the males more often, and the male's song has a lower pitch than the female's. They also give "a soft ventriloquial hu."