Occupancy patterns of Megascops asio in urban parks of New York City and southern Westchester County, NY, USA

Eastern screech owls (Megascops asio) exist in a number of urban parks in New York City (NYC) and Westchester County, NY. To investigate the effects of intense urbanization on this species, we performed call-broadcast surveys in 16 parks in NYC and Westchester. Occupancy and detection were modelled as functions of eight geographic variables and the presence of barred (Strix varia) and great horned (Bubo virgineanus) owls was noted. Detection was lower in parks that had larger owls. Percent impervious cover and percent forest cover of buffer zones were the most important predictors of occupancy. Screech owls can persist in parks in urbanized areas, but long-term persistence appears to be limited by high levels of urbanization (>50–60% impervious cover), even around otherwise suitable parks, probably because recolonization of extirpated sites in these areas is unlikely. Hence, characteristics of the urban matrix around parks were strong determinants of occupancy by eastern screech owls in these parks.