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Bird name:

Elf Owl

Micrathene whitneyiOrder: STRIGIFORMES Family: True Owls (Strigidae)

Codes: Common Name: ELOW Scientific Name: MICWHI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 177912

Head

Topo Map: Owl-like Head

Bill Shape: Hooked
Eye Color: Lemon yellow, paler in nestlings.
Head Pattern: Eyeline, Spotted, Special (unique patterns or features)
Crown Color: Gray-brown with red-brown spotting.
Forehead Color: Gray-brown with red-brown spotting. Pale red-brown facial disk with dark rim.
Nape Color: Gray-brown with narrow white band.
Throat Color: Pale red-brown
Cere color: Yellow

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Body

Topo Map: Owl-like Body

Length Range: 13-15 cm (5-6 in)
Weight: 40 g (1.4 oz)
Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
Color: White, Brown, Gray, Buff
Underparts: White with red-brown streaking and red-brown breast with buff spotting.
Upperparts: Gray-brown with buff spotting.
Back Pattern: Spotted or speckled
Belly Pattern: Mottled
Breast Pattern: Mottled

Flight

Topo Map: Owl-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Silent wing beats., Mothlike flight.
Wingspan Range: 38 cm (15 in)
Wing Shape: Broad-Wings
Tail Shape: Notched Tail
Tail Pattern: Gray and green
Upper Tail: Gray-brown with buff spotting.
Under Tail: White
Leg Color: Pale brown to dull yellow.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Elf Owl

Elf Owl: Small owl, gray-brown body heavily mottled white and cinnamon-brown. Round head lacks ear tufts; facial disk bordered by thin, black line. Eyes are pale yellow highlighted by white eyebrows. Wings are long. Bristly feathers sparsely cover feet and legs. Tail is short with 3 to 5 pale bars.

● Song: "CHU-ur-ur-ur", "cheeur"

● Foraging & Feeding: Elf Owl: Eats insects, other arthropods, small mammals, and small birds. Often hovers to spook insect prey into flight, and then captures it in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Elf Owl: One to five white eggs are laid in an abandoned woodpecker hole in a tree or large cactus. Incubation ranges from 14 to 24 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Elf Owl: Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and Northern Pygmy owls have longer tails, black eyespots on napes, and heavily streaked underparts.

Flight Pattern

Silent wing beats., Mothlike flight.

● Range & Habitat: Elf Owl: Resident in southwest U.S. and Mexico. Preferred habitats include deserts, thorn scrub, and mesquite or deciduous riparian woodlands; most abundant in deserts dominated by giant saguaro.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationFairly common to common, Widespread

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.4 Ounces

Owl-like Head

Owl-like Body

Owl-like Flight

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Elf Owl

Head

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Body

Flight

Elf Owl

Flight Pattern