Northern Saw-whet Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl, adult

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Northern Saw-whet Owl, juvenile

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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 all types of woodlands, the Northern Saw-whet Owl can be found roosting in winter in small, dense conifer trees, sometimes even in parks and gardens. Its defense upon discovery is to sit still and not fly, leading people to perceive them as "tame."

Description

• Small owl.
• No ear tufts.
• Face white, outlined in brown and white.
• Underparts white streaked with brown.
• Eyes yellow.
• Bill black.

• Size: 18-21 cm (7-8 in)
• Wingspan: 42-48 cm (17-19 in)
• Weight: 65-151 g (2.29-5.33 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, female larger.

Sound

Song a series of whistled toots.

Conservation Status

Few data exist on population trends.

Other Names

Petite nyctale (French)
Lechucita cabezona, Tecolotito cabezon (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The main prey items of the Northern Saw-whet Owl are mice, and especially deer mice of the genus Peromyscus. Adult mice usually are eaten in pieces in two different meals. One owl was found dead after apparently trying to swallow a large mouse whole.

• The female Northern Saw-whet Owl does the incubation and brooding. The male brings all her food while she is incubating. She leaves the eggs for only one or two short trips each night, to defecate and cough up a pellet.

• While the female saw-whet broods her nestlings, she keeps the nest cavity very clean. But, when the young are about 18 days old, she starts spending the night in another hole, and then the dirt starts to accumulate. When the young owls leave the nest after another ten days to two weeks, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts.

Sources used to construct this page:

Cannings, R. J. 1993. Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus). In The Birds of North America, No. 42 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.