Ferruginous Pygmy Owl | Glaucidium brasilianum

Voice

A long series of even, whistled toots, poip-poip-poip-poip, about two to three per second, which can run to dozens of notes; given both by day and at night. Also a high, twittering chirr. The song is widely imitated throughout the range to attract songbirds.

Identification

15–17 cm, compact, with a round head without ear tufts, yellow eyes, short white eyebrows and a fairly long tail. The colour varies from grey-brown to warm rufous. The crown is finely streaked pale, not dotted; on the nape two black spots with a pale border act as false eyes. In grey-brown birds the tail is dark with narrow pale bars, in rufous birds rufous with dark bars. The underparts are white with rufous or brown streaks. It often cocks and wags its tail.

Confusion species

The Colima Pygmy Owl Glaucidium palmarum, the Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl Glaucidium sanchezi, the Central American Pygmy Owl Glaucidium griseiceps and the Northern Pygmy Owl Glaucidium gnoma have pale dots instead of streaks on the crown and fewer, broken white tail bars; their song is a short series of toots. The Tropical Screech Owl Megascops choliba and other screech owls have ear tufts and are active only at night. The Elf Owl Micrathene whitneyi has a short tail and no false eyes.

Habitat

Dry and semi-evergreen forest, thorn scrub, forest edges, secondary forest, gallery forest, farmland and pasture with scattered trees, plantations, gardens and villages; in Sonora also cactus desert and riparian woodland. Mainly in the lowlands and on the lower slopes, locally up to about 1,500 metres. It hunts from a perch, by day and at dusk, for large insects, lizards, small birds and mice, sometimes prey larger than itself. It nests in tree cavities, old woodpecker holes and cavities in columnar cacti.

Range and movements

Resident in the lowlands of much of the guide area: on the Pacific side from Sonora south and on the Gulf side from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas south, across the Yucatán Peninsula and through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica into Panama, where it is more local. In Costa Rica mainly in the dry northwest. Absent from the high mountains and the wettest rainforests. Outside the guide area in Arizona and Texas and in South America south to Argentina.

• Resident
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

How and when to look

Found almost everywhere in dry forest and open country with trees in the lowlands, also in gardens and hotel grounds, for example in Yucatán and in Guanacaste in Costa Rica. A group of agitated songbirds and hummingbirds around one spot in a tree often points to a pygmy owl; the series of toots is often heard in the middle of the day too.

Conservation status

Not threatened. The species adapts well to man-made landscapes as long as trees with cavities remain. At the northern edge of its range, in Arizona, it has become rare.

Scientific name

Glaucidium brasilianum | (Gmelin, 1788)

Gmelin described the species in 1788 as Strix brasiliana; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Glaucidium was introduced in 1826 by Boie. Glaucidium is Greek glaukidion 'little owl' or 'owlet', a diminutive of glaux 'owl'. brasilianum means 'Brazilian', after Brazil, where the species was described. The specimen the first description was based on came from Brazil (Ceará suggested).