Northern Saw-whet Owl, Aegolius acadicus
Tiny but mighty! Northern Saw-whet Owls are as adorable as they are fierce. At only eight inches in height, they are some of the smallest owls in North America- about the size of a common American Robin. Their small size, cat-like eyes, and fluffy legs make them seem so endearing. But these owls are still fierce. They love small mammals, and will eat tons and tons of mice, meadow voles, and shrews amongst other critters. Like most owls, they have exceptional hearing and low light vision- small mammals beware. As a matter of fact, their hearing is so astute that they can hunt in pitch darkness by sound alone.
I have always wanted to see a saw-whet owl. I have heard them many times on Christmas Bird Counts, their too-too-too hooting calls filling the early morning darkness during the owling portions of the day. But something so cute just has to be looked at as well as heard. But how is one supposed to find a bird that is so tiny and camouflages so spectacularly and barely moves during daylight hours? I have heard plenty of stories of people just walking into these birds at eye level purely by luck. But after eight years of looking, my luck had not yet found me one of these owl cuties.
Last weekend, finally, my luck changed! Unbeknownst to me, it turns out that Northern Saw-whet Owls migrate across the Great Lakes. And, on my drive from Wisconsin to New York, I was also migrating across the Great Lakes. I have to admit that I have never really thought about owls migrating before. Saw-whet Owl migration is actually a mystery still being unraveled. To help learn more about the migration patterns of these small owls, Project Owlnet was begun in 1990 as a Saw-whet Owl banding collaboration that now includes over 100 banding sites. Luckily for me, even without any knowledge of their migration patterns, I managed to find myself looking up into a tree near Lake Superior and there, a tiny tufted knob on the tree, was an adorable Saw-whet Owl!
To learn more about Project Owlnet and the fascinating work they have been doing, check out this link here.