The Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma)

The cutest Murderer in North America

The Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma or NPOW) is an elusive beast, not because of its size (as you might gather from its name it is a rather small creature) but rather due to its aggressive hunting style (Darling, 2003; Sibley, 2016).

 

“Elusive” is also an apt term to describe the Northern Pygmy-Owl, as they are a rather secluded and secretive species that typically live deep in old growth forests (Darling, 2003). They are a difficult species to study because they are asocial creatures and their are not many to begin with (Darling 2003). Also as they are a resident species we cannot take advantage of bottleneck areas during migration as is done with the Northern Saw-whet Owl (Darling, 2003, BirdLife International, 2014).

 

 

 

As it stands, there have yet to be estimates made of how many Northern Pygmy-owls exist (Darling, 2003). It is suspected that their populations may be decreasing; however, it is still considered to be a species of least concern in terms of conservation efforts (Darling, 2003; BirdLife International, 2014). Interestingly enough we do know that this species ranges from northern Canada to Nicaragua (Birds of North America; Sibley, 2016).

 

 

As to how the Northern Pygmy-owl fits onto the evolutionary tree, there is some confusion –to put it mildly. If you want to develop a headache try comparing old scientific papers on the Norther Pygmy-Owl to modern ones, but I digress. In short, most agree that its species name is gnoma (though Wikipedia doesn’t agree), and because life is cruel, this species is further broken down into subspecies (Birds of North America; Darling, 2003; Sybley, 2016). However, to quote Darling “Taxonomy of the subspecies is complex and requires further clarification” (Darling, 2003). But, good news! We can agree that the species local to Vancouver island and its associated islands belong the swarthi subspecies (Darling, 2003). 

 

 

How big is this creature? Take a moment to picture a tall Starbucks latte, drink the coffee (yes, it’s coffee), congratulations! You now hold a device large enough to entrap a Northern Pygmy owl* or, if you want to be ‘sciency’ about it, the owl is approximately 6.5” tall (from bill tip to tail tip) with a wingspan of 12″, and a surprisingly long tail of about 2″ (Sibley, 2016).

 

*I do not endorse the trapping of small owls in coffee cups.

 

Its feathers range from a vibrant reddish brown to a calming grey brown, depending on subspecies and region, which only makes its very yellow eyes and feet all the more terrifying (Darling, 2003; Sibley, 2016). They also have a white underbelly with brown stripes and menacing white eyebrows i.e. supercilium (Sibley, 2016). Another striking feature shared by all pygmy owls is black spots with a white ring on the back of their heads, which mimic their eyes, these are rather uncreatively referred to as eyespots (Deppe et al, 2003; Sibley, 2016).

 

 

 

In north america the Northern Pygmy-Owl is pretty distinct from other owls of similar size. However, in the United States and in central america positive identification becomes more difficult thanks to the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) which differ only in being a slightly more red reddish brown then its northern counter parts (Sibley, 2016).

 

 

 

When it comes to habitat the Northern Pygmy-owl isn’t too picky, they are largely generalist but have a slight proclivity for old growth forests, where they can murder in peace (Darling, 2003; Sibley, 2016). This makes logging the main area of concern in terms of future conservation efforts, especially on Vancouver Island where old growth forests are becoming rarer (Darling, 2003; BirdLife International, 2014).

 

 

 

 

 

The northern pygmy owl is a diurnal solitary creature, it mostly eats song birds and small mammals but won’t pass up a good insect (Darling, 2003; Deshler & Murphy 2012; Frye & Jageman, 2012; Sibley, 2016). These agile fliers can actually chase down their prey and don’t rely solely upon being cowards and surprising them (Darling, 2003; Deshler & Murphy 2012). Due to its unsavoury habit of eating song birds, song birds will often gather to mob Northern Pygmy-owl’s (Deppe et al, 2003).

 

 

 

The Northern Pygmy-Owls are monogamous species, but only for a single mating season (Darling, 2003; Birds of North America). Both parents will care for the offspring; the mother will brood the chicks, the male will feed her until they hatch at which point they both go hunting to provide for their little carnivores (Deshler & Murphy 2012; Frye & Jageman, 2012). They nest in holes in trees, these can be naturally occurring or by squatting in a woodpeckers hard earned crevice they pecked themselves (Darling, 2003; Frye & Jageman, 2012).

Also if you ever wanted to hear the fearsome roar of the Northern Pygmy-owl Steve Large has got you covered.

In summary, the Northern Pygmy-Owl is a fascinating poorly studied little monster, I hope you found this angry fluff ball to be as amusing as I did!

P.S. Fun fact! Fledgling Norther Pygmy-owls when first learning to fly often fail and will instead end up hanging upside down… this is the results.

SOURCES

BirdLife International. 2014. Glaucidium gnoma. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014

Darling, L. M. B.C Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Biodiversity Branch (2003) Status of                         the Vancouver Island Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma swarthi) in                                            British Columbia. Wildlife Bulletin.

Deppe, C., Holt, D., Tewksbury, J., Broberg, L., Petersen, J., & Woo, K. (2003). Effect of the Northern                           Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) eyespots on avain mobbing. The American Ornithology                        Society. 120(3), 765-771.

Deshler, J. F. & Murphy, M. T. (2012) The Breeding Biology of the Northern Pygmy-Owl: Do the                                smallest of the small have an advantage? The Condor. 114 (2), 314-322.

Frye, G. G. & Jageman, H. R. (2012). Post-Fledging Ecology of Northern Pygmy-owls in the rocky                              mountains. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(2): 199-207.

Sibley, D. A. (2016) The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America: Second Edition. Knopf                             Doubleday Publishing.