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.