screech owl

See also: screech-owl

English
an eastern screech owl Megascops asio.

Etymology

From the fact that these species are owls which emit screeching calls.

Noun

screech owl (plural screech owls)

  1. Any New World owl of genus Megascops.
    • 1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, page 102:
      The screech owls winter in the north and are distinctly farsighted in preparing for winter.
    • 1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April‎:
      And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.
  2. (UK) A common barn owl, of species Tyto alba, found almost worldwide.
  3. A mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus).

Derived terms

Translations
Tyto alba — see western barn owl
Turdus viscivorus — see mistle thrush
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