[1][3] This species resides in most types of woodland habitats across its range, and is relatively adaptable to urban and developed areas compared to other owls.

Although it often lives in close proximity to humans, the eastern screech owl frequently avoids detection due to its strictly nocturnal habits.

[4] The eastern screech owl was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

[5][6] Linnaeus based his account on the "little owl" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.

They have a large, round head with prominent ear tufts, yellow eyes, and a yellowish beak, which measures on average 1.45 cm (9⁄16 in) in length.

A paler gray variation (sometimes bordering on a washed-out, whitish look) also exists in western Canada and the north-central United States.

The only reliable distinguishing feature is the bill color, which is considerably darker (often a black-gray) in the western and olive-yellow in the eastern; their voices also differ.

The eastern and western screech owls overlap in the range in the Rio Grande valley at the Texas–Mexico border and the riparian woods of the Cimarron tributary of the Arkansas River on the edge of southern Great Plains.

[4] Due to the introduction of open woodland and cultivated strips in the Great Plains, the range of eastern screech owls there has expanded.

In suburban and rural areas, they may roost in manmade locations such as behind loose boards on buildings, in boxcars, or on water tanks.

The lugubrious nature of the eastern screech owl's call has warranted description such as, "A most solemn graveyard ditty, the mutual consolation of suicide lovers remembering the pangs and delights of the supernal love in the infernal groves, Oh-o-o-o-o that I never had been bor-r-r-r-n!.

[23] Orchards, which often have trees with crevices and holes, as well as meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), a dietary favorite, are often preferred nesting habitats.

Due to the ferocity and versatility of their hunting style, early authors nicknamed eastern screech owls "feathered wildcats".

An eastern screech owl tends to frequent areas in its home range where it hunted successfully on previous nights.

The eastern screech owl's sense of hearing is so acute, it can even locate mammals under heavy vegetation or snow.

Both the specialized ear placement and wing feathers are a feature shared by most living owl species to aid them in hunting in darkness.

[25] Abundant midsized avian or largish passerine prey are also not uncommon foods, such as mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), downy woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens), northern flickers, blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata), American robins (Turdus migratorius), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), and common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula).

However, larger avian prey are sometimes caught, including northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and American woodcocks (Scolopax minor) and even feral pigeons and ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), most likely young or fledgling aged birds, but all of which are likely to be heavier than the screech owls themselves.

The most commonly reported fish prey in Ohio were American gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus).

[25][29] Brown bullheads (Ameiurus nebulosus) have been captured by eastern screech owls along coastal areas during winter.

[4] From hundreds of prey remains from Ohio, 41% were found to be mammals (23% of which were mice or voles), 18% were birds, and 41% were insects and other assorted invertebrates.

Of vertebrates taken in the nesting season, 65% were birds (of about 54 species), 30% were mammals (11% meadow voles; 8% each of house mice and deermice of the genus Peromyscus), 3% were fish, and less than 2% were reptiles and amphibians.

There is previous information pointing to potential behavioral adaptations of urban and suburban eastern screech owls from their rural counterparts.

There have been previous studies that found suburban eastern screech owls breed no differently in man-made nest boxes than in natural tree cavities.

[32] Climate, food sources, and predator presence are some potential factors that impact the behaviors of suburban and rural eastern screech owls.

[33] Living in suburbia can have some additional impacts on eastern screech owl behavior such as secondary poisoning, vehicles, and more predation and competition from raccoon, opossum and squirrels.

In a previous study, prey diversity for eastern screech owls peaked in low-density suburban areas.

[34] It is already known that eastern screech owl diets vary throughout the breeding and non-breeding season, but now there is more research describing habitat's role in feeding behaviors as well.

The climate within urban or suburban and rural areas differ as well which in turn impacts eastern screech owl behavior.

[36] A previous study showed that as suburban climates got warmer over the course of a few years, eastern screech owls started nesting an average of 4.5 days earlier annually.