Creatures of the Night: Owls

November 6, 2025 

By: Erin Parker, Interpretive Services Supervisor

Whooooooo loves owls? These charismatic nocturnal birds spark interest, intrigue, and even adoration in many people. Michigan is home to about ten species of owls, though only three are common, year-round residents.

Owls of Southeast Michigan

Our three most common resident owls are the Eastern Screech, Barred, and Great Horned Owls.

Eastern Screech owls, a diminutive owl of only about 6-10 inches tall and come in two different color morphs; gray and rufous (red). Eastern screech owls can be found anywhere there are trees and are happy to utilize a human-built screech owl box as well. (Check out plans and build your own nest box here: https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/eastern-screech-owl/). These small owls can be found in suburban, rural, forested, and even urban areas. They eat a varied diet of small animals including small rodents and bats, birds, frogs, snakes, and a variety of insects and crustaceans such as crayfish.

Eastern screech owls have a variety of calls, with both the male and female of the pair vocalizing. They typically mate for life and will return to the same nest site year after year. Like many other owls, they don’t build a nest and the female will lay her eggs on whatever is on the nest surface- from wood chips in a tree cavity to the remnants of whatever utilized the nest area last! In southeast Michigan, screech owls will nest between February and June each year.

Crows, blue jays, and other birds will often clue humans into the presence of these often highly camouflaged birds – if you notice a noisy mob of crows or blue jays gathering in a tree, take a close look to see if they’re trying to scare away an owl.

Barred Owl

Barred owls are frequently found in wet woods and swamps and are the owl we’re most likely to see and hear during the day, though they are also considered nocturnal.

Barred owls are substantially larger than screech owls, standing between 16-20 inches tall. Like most raptors (hawks, eagles, owls), the females of the species are larger than the males and this is true of barred owls as well.

Barred owls have a distinctive call that sounds to many people like the birds are asking “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”.  Barred owls, also happy to utilize a human-built nest box, start nesting in March. Typically, the female does the vast majority of the incubation- sitting through Michigan’s wild and unpredictable weather of cold, heat, snow, ice, and rain. The male will hunt to feed the female and help protect the nest. Great horned owls are considered to be the biggest natural predator of barred owls.

Great horned owls

Southeast Michigan’s largest resident owl is the Great horned owl. Standing as tall as 25 inches, great horned owl’s booming voices can be heard starting in the fall as they begin their courtship rituals. Step outside at twilight, and you may hear a pair calling back and forth. Great horned owls are one of the most common owls in North America, and can be found in cities and woodlands, in deserts, and anywhere in between. While the mostly feed on mammals, they will take other owls. Great horned owls are also one of the only predators that regularly consumes skunks, because they have a poor sense of smell.

Their name is also a misconception- like all owls, they don’t have external ears but simply openings in the sides of their heads. The feathery tufts that give them their name are not horns and may be used to help them look larger when staring down threats from other animals or to help them home in on their prey.

Great horned owls will start nesting as early as late January in Michigan and, like all of our other local owls, are happy to use human-built structures for nesting.

Birding ethics

Owls bring out excited and enthusiastic humans to observe them, photograph them, and otherwise enjoy encountering them. But it is critical to their health and the survival of their young that human observers respect them, too.

Any human behaviors from noise to proximity that causes an owl’ s behavior to change suggests that the human needs to quiet down and back up. Owls, especially during their nesting season, are expending a lot of energy defending their nests and young from predators and other owls. Adding in humans that are getting to close, waking them up from their daytime rest, or otherwise disturbing them can cause the owls harm and even cause them to abandon their nests.

Quiet, respectful observing of owls means keeping on trails and using quiet voices. Behavior like knocking on nest boxes to wake owls up, providing food to provoke flight, and even playing owl calls that they react to are all considered unethical at best and harmful at worst.

Owl Prowls

Luckily, there are many opportunities to safely and respectfully listen for and observe owls. Check out the events calendar at Metroparks.com for Owl Prowls taking place at Lake Erie, Oakwoods, Lake St Clair, and Stony Creek Metroparks.