The Eurasian Pygmy Owl was classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), the
Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organise plants
and animals. They are the smallest of European Owls.
Description: Generally dark rufescent to greyish-brown, above spotted
whitish, below streaked brown and off-white. The sides of the breast are mottled brown.
There is a prominent, white half-collar around the back of the neck. The tail is brown to
grey-brown with 5 narrow, whitish bars. The head is round and there are no ear tufts. The
facial disk is not well defined, the face being whitish, with small brown markings, mainly
in the form of 2 or 3 broken, concentric rings around each yellow eye. The Bill is
yellowish, as are the bare parts of the feathered toes. Legs are also feathered, claws are
dark horn with blackish tips.
Size: Length: Males 15.2-17cm (6-6.7") Females 17.4-19cm
(6.8-7.5")
Weight: Males 50-65g (1.76-2.3oz) Females 67-77g (2.36-2.7oz)
Habits: Most active at dusk and dawn, but also during the daytime. Not normally active at night.
Eurasian Pygmy Owls are expressive birds - When excited, one will cock its tail, flicking it from side to side. When angry, the feathers of the body and head are raised, and when frightened, they are held tightly against the upright body.
Flight is woodpecker-like and undulating over a distance.
Voice: The Male's normal call is a sequence of monotonous, clear fluted
notes spaced at about 2 second intervals: gewh, gewh, gewh... When excited, this is followed by a quick succession
of 3-6 staccato notes, sometimes with a trilling character.
The Female's voice a similar, but higher pitched and thinner.
Both Male and Female make a 5-7 note rising scale call - the last note being a broken or
"false" tone. These calls are given mostly before and after the breeding season
at dusk or dawn. Immatures also make this call during Autumn, when searching for their own
territory.
The contact call is a soft "gew" sound, made by both males and females.
When uneasy, they give a series of accelerating "gui" notes that
increase in volume and pitch.
Hunting & Food: Eurasian Pygmy Owls hunt ground prey from a perch,
swooping on potential prey after watching and waiting. Small birds are ambushed and caught
in a dashing flight.
Small birds make up much of a Pygmy Owl's diet - Thrushes, Crossbills, Chaffinches,
Leaf Warblers, and Pied Flycatchers being common prey. They also take birds approaching
their own size, such as the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush or Hawfinch.
Small mammals are also important food, especially voles, mice and shrews.
Other prey taken include small lizards, bats, fish, and insects.
Food is often cached in tree holes, or on branches. This occurs more often in Winter.
Pellets average 28 x 12 mm (1.1 x 0.47")
Breeding: Pair formation begins in Autumn, and following a break in
Winter, continues in Late Winter / early Spring. The Male will sing at different places in
its territory, and if previously paired, the female will soon join him. Unpaired birds
often duet. The male then guides the female around his territory, and shows her various
nest sites. If the male is using the same nest hole as the last breeding season, then this
will be the only one he shows her. Eurasian Pygmy Owls are monogamous, and will sometimes
pair for more than one breeding season. Males are very territorial, and may use the same
territory for up to 7 years.
Nest sites are normally cavities produced by the Great Spotted or Three-toed Woodpecker.
The tree will usually be coniferous, but also birch and beech. They will also take to nest
boxes.
If the female accepts the nest hole, she stays near it, or visits it at dusk, and is fed
by the male.
The pair will clean the nest cavity before the female lays 3-8 white eggs (27-31mm x
22-24mm) at 2 day intervals. Pygmy Owls are one of the few species that don't start
incubation until the last egg is laid. The female alone incubates the eggs for 28-29 days,
only leaving briefly in the evening or morning to be fed by the male. She will often
enlarge the nest cavity using her bill to tear small chips from the inner wall.
Young hatch almost all at the same time, and are brooded by the female for 9-10 days.
By this stage, their eyes will be open. The male continues to bring food, which the female
collects and takes back to the young. At about 3 weeks, the nestlings start to look out of
the nest hole, and the female will only enter the cavity to feed them or remove waste. The
young leave the nest at 30-34 days - the entire brood usually taking a period of 3-4 days
to leave. They are fed by the female for about a week after leaving the nest, and then the
male will share the duties for a time, and then will look after them himself (while the
female leaves to molt) for 4-6 weeks, after which they begin to disperse. The young are
able to reproduce at about 9-10 months old, and are fully mature at about 1 year.
Mortality: Eurasian Pygmy Owls live for 6-7 years in the wild,
sometimes longer in captivity.
Habitat: Primarily coniferous forest of the boreal zone and corresponding
montane coniferous and mixed forest in higher mountains.
Prefers semi-open mature forest with clearings. Nest sites are often surrounded by moist
or swampy terrain, with a water source and groups of younger spruces nearby.
Distribution: Central and Northern Europe, Eastward to Siberia. Adults
are generally resident, but may move to lower altitudes (south) in severe winters.
Immatures tend to move about in Autumn and Winter, and have been seen as far west as Britain.
Distribution of Glaucidium passerinum
Status: Not globally threatened. Has disappeared from parts of Germany due to deforestation and increasing populations of the Tawny Owl Strix aluco.
Original Description: Linnaeus, Carolis. 1758. Systema Naturae (Syst. Nat) ed. 10: p 93.
Subspecies:
G. p. passerinum,
G. p. orientale
References:
Page Information:
Page compiled by Deane P. Lewis.
OwlPages.com Owl Species ID: 190.010.000 - Page last updated 2005-04-21
