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I must agree, though we were both looking for the
"eyes" and not seeing them. Perhaps, juveniles don't have them. The views we got
were brief, due to trail traffic. Everything else matches for a nopo: eyes,
spots, white tail barring, lighter bill/beak, size. No other small owl seems to
fit.
Thanks for the help.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 9:20
PM
Subject: Re: [BirdTalk] 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 -----
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?
Jim Bailey
2032 Ribbon Lane
Holladay, UT
84117
(801) 274-8034
A hobby must be in a large degree
useless, inefficient, laborious or
irrelevant -Aldo
Leopold
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