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

In an old abandoned house we hear spooky, eerie, ghostlike wailing - haunting voices that move through walls and suddenly emerge from a different room. But wait! Halloween has come and gone, or are ...

Q. Why are they called screech owls when the only sound I’ve ever heard them make are warbling noises that remind me of musical Morse code? A. I was able to answer this question a few years ago during ...

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 ...

CHAMPAIGN -- “Birds of omen, dark and foul,” wrote Sir Walter Scott about owls, once considered harbingers of doom, death, and destruction. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches and an ...

There are at least 250 species of owls in the world, but only a few are more commonly seen (and heard) in Northern California and across the United States. The most common owls you’ll encounter in ...

During a recent stay in the mountains of Big Bend National Park, my wife, Kathy, and I drove to the historic desert oasis called Dugout Wells one evening. We needed to get there before nightfall to ...