Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus), Fortuna Wash, Yuma County

This bird was accidentally mist-netted by Lin Piest on 11 March 2008 when he was mist netting bats. He photographed it after releasing it and another immediately called from elsewhere in the wash. They were still present on 17 March 2008.  Note that flash-induced red eye has been removed from the picture with PhotoShop.

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 and is casual in Yuma County. Rosenberg, et.al., in the "Birds of the Lower Colorado River" lists them as casual winter visitors, with only two specimens found in Yuma County.

Northern Saw-whet Owl is easily distinguished from the other small, earless, short-tailed owl, Boreal Owl, 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. 

11 March 2008, photo by Lin Piest