Besides mind-blowing views of 30+ warbler species, another highlight for many birders during the Biggest Week in American Birding is seeing Eastern Screech-Owls sleeping out in the open. These little, camouflaged owls often have their cover blown by angry flocks of songbirds and can be spotted roosting out in the open, or if you know which owl nestboxes to keep an eye on, you might see one peaking out. One pair along the Maumee Bay Lodge boardwalk had a nestbox full of downy owlets, and the adults had to sleep outside the box in the swampy forest nearby. This pair consisted of a normal, gray type and an unusual brown type!
Brown type Eastern Screech-Owl roosting near its nestbox (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)
Gray type Eastern Screech-Owl that was roosting just a few inches off the water, under some logs one afternoon (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)