For many years, I had an Eastern Screech Owl occupy backyard birdhouses I originally built for kestrels and flickers. I saw him/her most often in the spring, sunning in the entrance to the house in the late afternoon. I frequently watched until dusk when (s)he departed, always in the same direction. Sometimes I would be awakened very early on a summer morning by a small flock of bluejays harassing the owl - perching on the top of the birdhouse, peeking into the house, screeching, often for an hour or more, and from time to time I would find a little pile of blue feathers below the tree, where clearly the owl had his revenge. Much later in the day, long after the jays had moved on, the owl would have a long nap in his doorway, awaiting sundown. This little owl seemed to spend many days in other trees around my yard, often camouflaged just a few feet above a well-used sidewalk.
We also had a Great Horned owl pair often seen in the tip-top of a tall Ponderosa pine, though one once got stuck amid the tangle of branches in my pear tree. It looked quite awkward and embarassed until it finally freed itself and flew off.