Quantcast

Elf Owl

Micrathene whitneyiOrder: STRIGIFORMESFamily: True Owls (Strigidae)
Elf Owl Head Illustration

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
Elf Owl Body Illustration

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

  • 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.
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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.
Family True Owl (Strigidae)_blue
Species Micrathene whitneyi
Length5 - 6 Inches
Wingspan15 Inches

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.
Elf Owl Body Illustration
● 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