Date: 12/31/25 7:12 am From: Ian Stewart <istew...> Subject: [de-birds] Screech owl color morphs
Hi everyone,
Screech owls occur in two color morphs (red and gray) and I am interested in which morph is most common in Delaware (and if the most common morph varies across the state). On theory is that red morphs are more common in pine woods as they blend in with the bark of those trees so daytime predators are less likely to find them, while gray morphs are are more common in hardwoods/deciduous trees.
I thought this could be a great community science project given how many Delaware birders report their sightings through eBird. If you use eBird and get lucky enough to see a screech owl, could you please note in the comments whether it was a red or gray morph, and whether it was in a pine tree, deciduous tree, or a nestbox? That way I can later filter all eBird records with screech owl comments (or even photos). I realize there are some complications (the same owl may be seen by several people and in more than one year, and some red morphs may be the rarer brown morph) but I think this would be an interesting first step. If there is enough data I could publish it in the Delaware Ornithologist so everyone gets to find out the results.
If you posted a screech owl sighting to eBird recently and can remember whether it was a red or gray morph it would be great if you could go back and edit the report with that detail!
If you aren't sure of the owl's color or type of tree it is in then there is no need to get closer and risk disturbing the owl, so skip entering comments for these (and adding comments is always totally voluntary anyway). I am just trying to extract even more value from passive eBird sightings, and hope people enjoy contributing extra data on any screech owls they come across.
