CHAMPAIGN -- “Birds of omen, dark and foul,” wrote Sir Walter Scott about owls, once considered harbingers of doom, death, and destruction. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches and an ...

Three screech-owls are found in North America: eastern, western and whiskered. But about 22 screech-owl species are found in the world, all in the Americas. Estimated breeding populations of ...

Ghouls and goblins are figments of the imagination, but a very real flying creature can swoop from the air to flog or frighten us at any time of the day or night. Of all the Halloween “boo birds,” the ...

Spotting an owl glide through the treetops is a thrilling experience, its silhouette a shadow against the twilight sky. A hallmark of owls is their completely silent flight. But when they do make ...

While participating in the White River Christmas Bird Count near St. Charles on Jan. 5, I was reminded just how exciting it is to see an owl. My son Zach and friends Lewis and Shannon Peeler of ...

A listener responded to our invitation to send recordings of backyard wildlife with audio of a spooky bird screech. An expert at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology helped solve the mystery. OK, that's not ...