United States
£ GBP
The call of an owl evokes mystery; seeing one in the wild inspires wonder. Of the top ten birds people hope to see, three are owls. Although they may be out of sight, owls are widespread throughout North America – and screech owls are the most likely to make their homes near humans. In this book, experts Jim Wright and Scott Weston show you how to attract them to nest in your yard, year after year.
The Screech Owl Companion introduces screech owls, show how to distinguish them from other species, shares fun lore and legend, and provides step-by-step instructions for making your yard screech ready. You'll learn how to build a nest box and install a simple nest cam that you can monitor from your cell phone to watch when owls move in, lay eggs, and hatch.
Jim Wright is a prize-winning writer and the author of The Bird Watcher, a long-running column featured in New Jersey's The Record and USA Today. He has hosted screech owls in a backyard nest box, written about them since 2004, and observed them through a nest cam for a dozen breeding seasons. He is currently leading a grassroots campaign to ban the rat poisons that kill owls and other wildlife. He lives in Allendale, NJ.
Scott Weston has been involved with birding and owling for over 35 years, going on predawn Audubon Christmas bird counts since he was 11. An accomplished photographer, Scott has contributed to local and national publications, including Cornell's All About Backyard Birds. He has a B.S. degree in fisheries and aquaculture from the University of Rhode Island. He has been working and publishing in this field for over 20 years with Salem State University. He lives in northern Massachusetts.
"Astounding, thorough, wide-ranging, and well done, this book will take you into the world of the beloved Screech Owl. It delivers everything you could want or need to welcome these appealing, diminutive, feathery, fierce creatures as your neighbors."
– Lillian Stokes, coauthor of The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America
"Everyone who wants to put up a screech owl box or has a screech owl box should own this book (not just read it once since you will use it again and again). It is a how-to guide and a reference manual that covers everything you could ever want to know from biology to nest box designs to camera technology and much, much more."
– Karla Bloem, Executive Director of the International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota
"An armchair naturalist will find this book filled with interesting facts and folklore about this feathered denizen of backyard and nearby woodland edge. For a closer acquaintance with the screech owl, Wright and Weston provide detailed instructions on installing owl boxes, their construction and placement, and the installation of a nest cam. And they give important tips (and cautions) for photographing owls."
– Dorcas MacClintock, author of Animals Observed: A Look at Animals in Art
"Full of beautiful photos and illustrations and tips from the owl hosts, with sidebars featuring owl-oriented quotations and other books about owls, this gem of a manual will satisfy all levels of owl lovers."
– Booklist
"Jim Wright describes screech owls as the most amazing creatures you'll seldom see. But after reading this book, you will know a lot more about them and wish you had one living near you. The surprising thing is that you probably do. If you have any interest in owls – and who doesn't – this is a book you'll want to own. The Screech Owl Companion is filled with useful information and wonderful pictures. If you're interested in owls of any kind, especially screech owls, this is a must have book. It is well-researched, well-written, and filled with useful information."
– Robert M. Peck, Senior Fellow, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
"A well-illustrated overview of Eastern and Western Screech-Owls."
– Bird Booker Report
"Packed with everything you wanted to know about screech owls and even has plans to build your own box."
– Newbury Port Daily News
