Dictionary

screech owl en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. Any New World owl of genus Megascops.
   • The screech owls winter in the north and are distinctly farsighted in preparing for winter. 1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, page 102:
   • 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. 1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April:
2. (UK) A common barn owl, of species Tyto alba, found almost worldwide.
   • The poet Propertius refers to a philtre containing snake bones, a toad, and the feathers of a screech-owl. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 186:
3. A mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus).

Forms

Deriveds

Santa Marta screech owl · Yungas screech owl · whiskered screech owl · West Peruvian screech owl · Pacific screech owl · foothill screech owl · †Virgin Islands screech owl · vermiculated screech owl · western screech owl · rufescent screech owl · tawny-bellied screech owl · white-throated screech owl · cloud-forest screech owl · eastern screech owl · cinnamon screech owl · Koepcke's screech owl · Chocó screech owl · long-tufted screech owl · tropical screech owl · Middle American screech owl · Puerto Rican screech owl · bearded screech owl · bare-shanked screech owl · Balsas screech owl · black-capped screech owl

Translations (29)

cmn 鳴角鴞 /鸣角鸮 (Megascops) · pl syczoń (Megascops) · la ulula (Megascops) · sw mtiti (Megascops) · fr petit-duc maculé (Megascops) · akz ofolo (Megascops) · cku afolo (Megascops) · hu lármáskuvik (Megascops) · vi cú mèo (Megascops) · pt corujinha (Megascops) · it gufo comune (Megascops) · ru совка (Megascops) · unm chululhuwe (Megascops) · cho ofunlo (Megascops) · ga ulscréachóg (Megascops) · ga scréachóg reilige (Megascops) · cs výreček (Megascops) · mic gu'gu'gwes (Megascops) · nl schreeuwuil (Megascops) · es autillo (Megascops) · oj gaakaabishiinh (Megascops) · nv tsidiłdǫǫhii (Megascops) · gd sgreuchag-oidhche (Megascops) · cic ofolo (Megascops) · gv hullad-screeagh (Megascops) · no lundugle (Megascops) · de Kreischeule (Megascops) · cmn 鳴角梟 /鸣角枭 (Megascops) · fi kirkupöllönen (Megascops)