Flammulated Owl

Flammulated Owl

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A small owl of mountain pine forests, the Flammulated Owl is common in scattered localities throughout the West.

Description

• Small owl.
• Short, feathered ear tufts.
• Gray or brownish gray.
• Dark eyes.

• Size: 15-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 41 cm (16 in)
• Weight: 45-63 g (1.59-2.22 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, female larger.

Sound

Call a rather deep-pitched, single "hoot," like blowing across the top of a bottle.

Conservation Status

Common but considered vulnerable and possibly declining in some areas. On Audubon Watchlist.

Other Names

Petit-duc nain (French)
Tecolote flameado (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Flammulated Owl once was considered rare, but improved census techniques revealed that they actually were common. Some consider it the most abundant owl of western pine forests.

• The monotonous flat toot of the Flammulated Owl can be difficult to locate. The softness of the call, together with the gradual beginning and end make its direction hard to detect. In addition, when the owl detects a person, it sings even more softly, making it sound as if the owl is far away.

• Although most small owls eat insects, they also usually eat mice, shrews, and other small vertebrates. The Flammulated Owl eats very few vertebrates at all, and subsists nearly entirely on insects, especially crickets, moths, and beetles. Perhaps this diet is the reason that few Flammulated Owls remain in northern areas over the winter.

Sources used to construct this page:

McCallum, D. A. 1994. Flammulated Owl (Otus flammeolus). In The Birds of North America, No. 93 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.