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Northern Pygmy Owl

Glaucidium gnoma

Habitat:

Coniferous forest

Notes:

This very small owl is quite loud for its size! We detected it first by its tooting call and then zeroed in on its location. In my third photo, you can see one of its "false eyes" on the back of its head. Tommy and I were very happy to have such a wonderful visual of the bird!

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5 Comments

Desmond.E.S.O
Desmond.E.S.O 7 years ago

Soooooo Cool, Josh! Those False eyes are Awesome! Freaky too!

JoshuaGSmith
JoshuaGSmith 7 years ago

That's awesome! It is a very similar concept.

SukanyaDatta
SukanyaDatta 7 years ago

It reminded me that fishermen in the Royal Bengal Tiger land of the Sunderbans, India, wear masks on the back of their heads to make the tiger think twice about attacking (apparently it will not readily attack face-to face) ...this owl employs a similar ploy! New info for me. Thank you, Joshua.

JoshuaGSmith
JoshuaGSmith 7 years ago

Thanks! They are a species that is constantly harassed by songbirds, so I bet those "eyes" make birds think twice before diving at the owl!

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 7 years ago

Very cool about the "false eye."

JoshuaGSmith
Spotted by
JoshuaGSmith

Arizona, USA

Spotted on Apr 29, 2016
Submitted on May 24, 2016

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