Generally, the screech is a “feed me” call to let Dad know she is feeling peckish. Of course, owls can’t just open the snack cupboard whenever they want food, so if Dad wasn’t finding a handy prey item just then, he might not have been able to comply with the request.

Female owls drop a number of belly feathers near their brood patch just before they start incubating their eggs. In addition, they may lose quite a few feathers from contact with the sticks in the nest. But they don’t seem to attempt to move these discarded feathers to where the eggs and chicks are, so I don’t think they’re pulling out feathers just to line the nest. They will regrow all the missing feathers when they have their next full body molt, which occurs in the spring to fall seasons when they are not nesting.

thanks