Re: Mystery Owl

Jim,

It is a Northern Pygmy-owl! Perhaps the lack of the back-of-the-head "eyes" could be attributed to the bird's posture or your angle of view? Your owl might also be a juvenile because the crown doesn't appear to be as heavily spotted as an adult's crown should be. I can't find any info to indicate if juvenal plumage includes the "eyes" or not.

Kris

----- Original Message -----

From: Jim Bailey

To: Birdtalk

Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 9:21 PM

Subject: [BirdTalk] Mystery Owl

Hi,

Unlike Tim Avery, I don't know the answer to this bird ID question. The owl appeared to have no eyes in the back of his head, which seems to rule out a Northern Pygmy Owl. It also didn't seem to have any ear tufts. We saw it tonight up Millcreek on the Bowman Fork Trail around 7:30pm. I was lucky to snap off a couple of blurry pictures before a group stormed up the trail and sent the bird flying. It's about 6-8" in size, pretty grayish looking, round wing spots, yellow eyes, no ear tufts, as the photos show. It also tended to stick its tail up, almost wrenlike.

Any ideas?

http://bailey.aros.net/nature/Mystery%20Owl.htm

Jim Bailey
2032 Ribbon Lane
Holladay, UT 84117
(801) 274-8034

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