Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Aegolius
Species: acadicus
La. strix, strigis owl
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. aegolius night bird of
prey
La. Acadia former
French colony in
Nova Scotia |
|
| About eight inches long. Dark cinnamon
brown with white streaks on upper parts and white with cinnamon brown streaks on
underside. Buff white facial disk with black outline around yellow eyes. Three or four
narrow white bands on the tail.
Inhabits dense coniferous forests, groves and tree stands in farms
and towns from the middle U.S. north to Canada and Alaska and in the southwest mountainous
regions as far Mexico in the winter. Like its cousin, the Boreal Owl, it inhabits the
northern latitudes around the globe. Makes a nest of loose chips and
feathers in natural or abandoned tree cavities, rock clefts, sometimes
in abandoned squirrel, crow or heron nests, in building towers and in
bird houses for hundreds of years put up probably for rodent control. |
Lays three to seven white eggs
which hatch after about four weeks incubation and young leave the nest
in another four to five weeks.
Night hunter for mice and insects. Its note resembles the filing of a saw. The Saw-whet Owl Nestbox (same as for Pigmy Owl, Lewis Woodpecker Flicker,
and Grackle) has a 7" by 7" floor, 16"
inside ceiling, 2 1/2" diameter entrance hole located 14" above the
floor and ventilation openings. |
Saw-whet Owl
Nestbox Plans
|
| Assembled with corrosion resistant screws fit to pre-drilled
countersunk pilot holes. Hinged roof is secured with shutter hooks for easy access.
Mount out of reach (10 feet or higher) near woodland edges or clearings. Place some
wood chips on the floor.
Chester A. Reed
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