Northern Pygmy-owl with snack
On a fence post, but no Vole
Two of a kind
High on the hill
Getting ready to dive
Close watch
The sacrifice made by Meadow Voles
A surprise to all
Hiding in a cavity
Transformation of a preening owl
Tiny, bright-eyed Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Looks a long way down from up here
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
A backwards glance
Popcan-sized cutie
Eyes like Licorice Allsorts
Northern Pygmy-owl on snowy branch
Did anyone see what I caught?
Northern Pygmy-owl from January
Puffed up for warmth
Nature Calgary 2016 calendar
A tiny owl from the past
Fond memories of a popcan-sized owl
Vole brains for her afternoon snack
One year ago
Northern Pygmy-owl, one year ago
A blast from the past
A distant Northern Pygmy-owl
Yesterday's treat
Same tiny Northern Pygmy-owl
Way, way up
Northern Pygmy-owl
Ferocious hunter, but looking cute
The size of a popcan
Northern Pygmy-owl
False eyes and real eyes
Yesterday's absolute treat - the size of your fist…
Popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl, from January 2015
Another surprise on another gloomy day
It's the little guy/gal again
I spy with my little eye
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl - from the archives
Northern Pygmy-owl - from the archives
A good stretch of the legs and wing
Northern Pygmy-owl from January
Tiny predator with prey
Just a different perch
Way, way up
It's mine!
Irresistibly cute
Like finding a needle in a haystack
Yesterday's well-earned treat
Temporarily puffed after preening
A ferocious hunter, popcan-size
A tiny, ferocious hunter
False eyes
My sincere thanks
Every creature has to eat
Looking for its next meal
How cute can you get?
Concentration
Precious
Northern Pygmy-owl with Meadow Vole
What do I see?
Those piercing eyes
Well-fed Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Just for the record
Little cutie from the archives
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl / Glaucidium gnoma
Intense
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Coughing up a pellet
When I called in at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had managed to find one of the tiny, popcan-sized owls, I found a number of photographers already there. Though the owl was perched high in a tree when I got there, it eventually made its way to a better place. This was a smaller tree right in front of us, where it sat and watched for a Meadow Vole. Sure enough, we saw it dive down to the ground maybe 6' away from our feet, and then fly up into a close deciduous tree in front of us. It sat for quite a long while, clutching its prey, and we wondered if the reason it wasn't eating was that it needed to cough up a pellet before it had room for more food. Sure enough, up came a pellet and the owl started to feed on the Vole's brains..
"Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight.
The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes.
During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller.
Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages.
www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca...
"An owl pellet is a clod of fur or feathers and bone—the indigestible remains of the animals an owl has eaten. Because it swallows small prey whole and is able to digest only the fleshy parts, the owl regurgitates the remaining solid material as a compact pellet or casting. Where owls feed on insects, each regurgitated pellet contains the indigestible parts of the exoskeletons of numerous individual insects.
Although birds of many species regurgitate pellets, pellets from large owl species are especially suited for study because they are big enough to be examined without a microscope, and they contain the entire skeletons of small animals the owl has eaten. (Pellets of other raptors, such as eagles and hawks, are less useful since these birds tear much of the flesh from their victims, and do not swallow bones.) Because owl pellets accumulate in predictable locations, they are readily available for collection and examination. Pellets last a long time in dry climates and in the protection of barns or other buildings. If they are soaked in warm water, carefully dissected, and examined under magnification, the identity of prey they contain can often be determined from the bones, teeth, and other remains.
The remains hidden inside a pellet usually represent the entire skeleton of every animal the owl has eaten during a night of foraging. There are almost always remains of two or more animals in each pellet.”
wdfw.wa.gov/living/owls.html
"Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight.
The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes.
During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller.
Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages.
www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca...
"An owl pellet is a clod of fur or feathers and bone—the indigestible remains of the animals an owl has eaten. Because it swallows small prey whole and is able to digest only the fleshy parts, the owl regurgitates the remaining solid material as a compact pellet or casting. Where owls feed on insects, each regurgitated pellet contains the indigestible parts of the exoskeletons of numerous individual insects.
Although birds of many species regurgitate pellets, pellets from large owl species are especially suited for study because they are big enough to be examined without a microscope, and they contain the entire skeletons of small animals the owl has eaten. (Pellets of other raptors, such as eagles and hawks, are less useful since these birds tear much of the flesh from their victims, and do not swallow bones.) Because owl pellets accumulate in predictable locations, they are readily available for collection and examination. Pellets last a long time in dry climates and in the protection of barns or other buildings. If they are soaked in warm water, carefully dissected, and examined under magnification, the identity of prey they contain can often be determined from the bones, teeth, and other remains.
The remains hidden inside a pellet usually represent the entire skeleton of every animal the owl has eaten during a night of foraging. There are almost always remains of two or more animals in each pellet.”
wdfw.wa.gov/living/owls.html
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