In Pennsylvania, the gray phase is probably ten times more common than the red phase. Screech owls nest in unlined cavities of hollow trees, in abandoned holes of flickers and pileated woodpeckers and even in birdhouses. After hatching, young remain in the nest for one month. Screech owls hunt by flying low and swiftly over fields. Common in our state, they live in farm woodlots, orchards, stream edges and wooded areas of towns and cities.
Juveniles are a rich chocolate-brown over most of their bodies.
This species has no ear tufts. The saw-whet is nocturnal and seldom seen. By day, it roosts in young, dense hemlocks or thickets. Immatures leave the nest when about a month old. Saw-whets feed on insects, mice, frogs, bats, voles, shrews and small birds.