Northern saw-whet owls breed up in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests in Canada, the northern United States, and the Rocky Mountains. Unlike many other species of owls saw-whet owls often migrate south. Each year at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, MN they band quite a few saw-whets as they migrate south in October. In fact in 1995 the banded over 1400 saw-whets at Hawk Ridge, although those numbers are not typical. This female spent a good deal of the winter at the Dodge Nature Center here in the Twin Cities. Each day for a month I would check on her and almost always find her perched in the exact same tree. A couple of times I was treated to her feeding on mouse. Each time I would have to wait for hours as she slept perched on top of her prey before she would wake up to eat but it was well worth it.
5 comments:
She is just beautiful! I love little owls (even though I'm only familiar with them at the zoo or in a distant tree). But they are so cute!
That's a beautiful Northern saw-whet owl. It's good to hear their numbers are so healthy.
Beautiful birds:)
Wow....just all out, WOW!!!!
Hi there. I have been reading a lot about The Raptor Center, its a place as a birder I will look to visit when I make my way down there out of Canada in the future. I live in Toronto, Ontario, and this past Friday, my wife and I came upon an adult Saw-Whet Owl out in the bush. He looked very much like your Northern Saw-Whet Owl. The big yellow eyes are beautiful. For my wife and I this was the first time we had ever seen a Saw-Whet Owl in the wild. Fortunately, we had our camera with us and got some good pictures and video. For those interested we have posted them at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-northern-saw-whet-owl-sighting
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