Commonly spotted over the eastern stretches of the United States of America, the Eastern Screech Owl, or Megascops asio, is a small, nocturnal woodland owl. It is seen in three different colours — rust, red and grey.
Being strictly nocturnal, it hunts from dusk to dawn and carries out most of its hunting expeditions during the first hour of darkness. Its diet mainly consists of small mammals and other smaller birds.

The Eastern Screech Owl has an average lifespan of 15 years. However, due to the presence of other larger predators, it is often a struggle for the small owl to survive that long.

When it feels threatened, it stretches its body, tightens its feathers and appears to be a branch stub in order to avoid detection by predators. However, if this fails, it takes flight.