Northern Pygmy-Owl - Glaucidium gnoma
General Description
Round-headed, eyes yellow, bill yellow, yellow/green, yellow/black, or yellow/white. Eyebrows distinctive white. Feathers extending from back of eyebrows can be raised - like tufts - when alarmed. True facial disk absent. Head finely spotted. Ventrally, dark mottled head and neck, giving way to white chest, belly, and sides, with vertical brown streaking. Dorsally, dark mottling with conspicuously long tail. Has conspicuous false eyes or eye marks on back of head. SIZE: six to seven inches. WEIGHT: two or three ounces. VOICE: Two songs. One is "Toot, toot, toot¿," given rapidly six to eight times. Song is similar to that of the saw-whet owl and the two are difficult to distinguish. This song is most often heard in fall, winter, and the early part of the breeding season. The second song, "Toot (pause) toot¿," is the typical breeding season call.
Distribution
Montana Range
Observations in Montana: 272
Montana CountiesBeaverhead, Broadwater, Carbon, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Glacier, Granite, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Madison, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Teton, Wheatland
Migration
Probably resident year-round, with some elevational movements.
Habitat
Not well known, most often seen in mixed fir forests, but can be found from river bottoms to timberline.
Food Habits
Small birds, mammals, insects, and probably a few reptiles and amphibians. Small birds may be an important part of its diet.
Reproductive Characteristics
Begins breeding in April. Nests in woodpecker holes and possibly natural cavities. Clutch size three to five. Incubation not well known, but probably around 25 days. Young fledge at approximately 30 days (FWP). Young have been observed in June.
Citations & Sources
- Holt, D. and Becker, D. 1990. Indentification of Montana's Owls. Montana Outdoors. March/April 1990.