Rare 'rufous' Eastern Screech Owl photographed near Lake Travis by KXAN viewer

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Did you know that the Eastern Screech Owl is Travis County Audubon’s bird of 2025?

KXAN viewer Andrew Levihn-Coon recently sent KXAN several of pictures of the owls, which he photographed last month.

The birds that Levihn-Coon photographed were a mated pair near their nest, he said. One of the owls had a rare reddish-brown, or rufous, coloration. Typically, Eastern Screech Owls in Central Texas adapted a grey coloration for better camouflage with the region’s trees.

“So I was photographing them, that it was actually kind of a week later that baby fledged and left. So they were there for about a month,” Levihn-Coon said. “The male would kind of watch the nest all day, so he often is super camouflage, and would sit on the branch about 10 to 15 away, feet away from the nest, always with a line of sight to kind of watch over the nest.”

He spotted the birds at near the Tom Hughes Park at Lake Travis. Typically, the birds nest between March and mid-June, with some nesting until July, according to the Cornell Lab’s website.

“Generally, springtime is one of the best times to see owls, spring and early summer, because the parents are nesting, so they’re together and they’re kind of staying in the same spot,” Levihn-Coon said. “It can be really hard to find owls by sight, because they’re so camouflaged and often not that active during the day. So the best time to find them is generally kind of dawn, and dusk is when they’re most active.”

2025 is the first year that Travis Audubon has chosen a bird of the year. According to the chapter’s website, around 400 people voted in a poll and “overwhelmingly” picked the Eastern Screech Owl.

“This little owl has, so far, been able to adapt to urban areas pretty well,” said a Travis Audubon member, according to the January announcement. “With more folks moving to Texas everyday and the increase in development of rural areas, this little bird would be a great ambassador for bird education and the importance of conservation as well as how the things you do in your backyard affect not only birds, but all wildlife.”

“The Eastern Screech-Owl excels in both appeal and accessibility. Most people in Central Texas will hear Screech-Owls at night wherever they live, and the owls readily move into owl houses where they can be both heard and seen,” said another member.

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