screech owl

any of numerous small American owls of the genus Otus, having hornlike tufts of feathers, as O. asio, of eastern North America.

(not in technical use) any owl having a harsh cry, especially the barn owl.

Origin of screech owl

First recorded in 1585–95

He has a similar dread of a screech-owl, whom he compliments in the name of its mistress, Pallas Athene.

Scientific Essays and Lectures |Charles Kingsley
The old keeper had betrayed to him that in a cleft of a tolerably lofty rock in the deer-park a screech-owl had built a nest.

Luke Barnicott |William Howitt
The screech-owl flies with a silent wing, as if wrapped in tow (comme toupe de ouate).

The Bird |Jules Michelet
As he did so, there resounded again, simultaneously, the howl of the yard dog and the death-cry of the screech-owl.

The Strand Magazine, Volume VII, Issue 40, April, 1894 |Various

The screech-owl gave one gloomy shrill and prolonged note, and all was still again.

Gomez Arias |Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso

screech owl

a small North American owl, Otus asio, having ear tufts and a reddish-brown or grey plumage

British any owl that utters a screeching cry