6-inch Northern Pygmy Owl
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This 6-inch Northern Pygmy Owl carving was hand-crafted from solid Basswood. The Northern Pygmy Owl has a long tail that is dark brown with pale bars. The upper-parts are either rusty-brown or gray-brown and the crown is spotted; under-parts are white with dark streaks. The eyes are yellow and black nape spots look like eyes on the back of the head. The grayest birds are to be found in the Rockies; those on the Pacific coast as far north as British Columbia are browner. Inhabits dense woodlands in foothills and mountains. Chiefly nocturnal, the Northern Pygmy Owl is most active at dawn and dusk. Nests in cavities in trees and fence posts; the call is a mellow, whistled hoo or hoo hoo, repeated in a well-spaced series. It also gives a rapid series of hoo or took notes followed by a single took. An aggressive predator, sometimes catching birds larger than itself, this owl is a favorite target for songbirds. Birders may locate the owl by watching for mobbing songbirds. The nominate race, gnoma, seen from southeastern Arizona south through the mountains of Mexico, gives a series of double took-took notes with occasional single notes interspersed. The Northern Pygmy Owl is considered by some to be a separate species "Mountain Pygmy-owl," though there are no genetic differences.
Reference
National Geographic Field Guide To The Birds of North America, Fifth Edition, Page 262
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