Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus), Catalina State Park, Pima County

This Northern Saw-whet Owl was discovered by Joe Leone on a Tucson Audubon Field Trip to Catalina State Park on 15 March 2008.  It was photographed by Clifford Cathers on 22 March 2008.  Clifford notes: "I let nature decide on the composition and didn't get any closer than 15 feet using my Canon EOS 20d with 400 mm lens. I made no attempt to find a better angle, hence the blocking twigs and vegetation."

The distribution of the secretive Northern Saw-whet Owl is poorly known in Arizona, but it is thought to be a regular and perhaps fairly common breeder in high elevation areas of Northern and Central Arizona above 5500 feet and a rare resident at high elevation in several mountain ranges in SE Arizona. It is an irregular winter visitor to the lowlands of southern Arizona.

Northern Saw-whet Owl and Boreal Owl are the two short-tailed, earless small owls found in North America.  Saw-whet is easily distinguished from Boreal by its black bill, lack of black frame around the facial disk and rufous streaking on the underparts. Boreal Owl has not been recorded in Arizona. 

22 March 2008 photo by Clifford Cathers