Show screech owls owl prowlers Prowler sl devour insects insect rodents rodent one of the most diligent mouse hunters is the screech owl the th smallest owl with ear tufts it usually given the credit it deserves as an ally of farmers all of the owls long have been persecuted by man and unjustly so asserts a writer in the chicago tribune because these birds kill countless numbers of meadow mice wood mice and small insect pests which injure farm crops for example the screech owl is known to consume grasshoppers crickets and many other kinds of insects as well as crawfish and an n occasional snake the night hunting screech owl likes insects better than any other american owl with the exception of the burrowing owl i the it screech creech owl usually nests near faem buildings or in holes in trees an old orchard with hollow limbs in some of the trees providing an ideal nesting spot just how good the little screech owls are as farm citizens is best told by scientists who have examined the stomach contents of the birds bird for example out ot of stomachs examined were found to contain insects contained small animals such as field mice house mice etc SS 58 contained birds and 15 crawfish any one who dislikes the common english sparrow should be a screech owl enthusiast because the owls destroy hundreds of sparrows in the course of a year |