Northern Saw-whet Owl

On 21 January 2022, Erika and I found ourselves looking for a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was reported in the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. We did not hold out much hope for success, since we only knew the general area in which to search. Despite being one of the most common owls across southern Canada, the United States, and the mountains of western Mexico, the owl’s distribution and biology are not well known. (eBird rates them as not rare, but seldom reported.) The problem is that they are our smallest owl, about the size of a robin, and finding their roosting perches is difficult. In fact, we walked right by this owl once before Erika found it. She said that she noticed the white spots above its wings.

Saw-whet owls hunt at night, taking mostly Deer and White-footed mice. These owls have asymmetric ears, which enable them to locate prey at night only by hearing (Rasmussen et al. 2020). They hunt from low perches, which they also use for daytime roosting. At the roost, they can be quite tame. Sometimes you can find these owls at their roosts by watching for “whitewash.” This sign, however, was not present under this bird.