Nova the Northern Saw-whet Owl

 Our newest education bird at The Raptor Center is this cute little northern saw-whet owl. As their name implies the northern saw-whet are birds that are found in the north. Their range includes southern Canada, northern U.S. and parts of the Rocky Mountains. Northern saw-whets often migrate south during the winter when food becomes scarce in their northern range. They typically eat mice, particularly deer mice, which they catch while hunting at night.  

 Nova is a female northern saw-whet owl. She was named recently in a public naming contest. The name Nova is short for Nova Scotia which is a province in which the northern saw-whet was first discovered. At that time that part of Canada was a French colony called Acadia which is why the scientific name for the Northern saw-whet is Aegolius acadicus. Nova is unable to be released back to the wild because she is blind in one eye which is pretty noticeable in the photo above.

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