Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
- Family
- Strigidae
Where and when to see the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It lives in dry forest, second growth, forest edges and also in towns and leafy parks. Look for it by day: its persistent whistling, or a noisy crowd of small birds mobbing it, usually gives it away.
Where it’s reported most
- Ruta de los CenotesPuerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
- Cuxtal Ecological ReserveMérida, Yucatán
- Kabah Ecological ParkBenito Juárez, Quintana Roo
- MuyilFelipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo
When
All year · most reports Jan–Jun
Most reports from January to June.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 75%
- February: 97%
- March: 100%
- April: 88%
- May: 79%
- June: 76%
- July: 68%
- August: 58%
- September: 62%
- October: 61%
- November: 64%
- December: 60%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
Hunts by day as well as at night, taking insects, lizards and small birds at forest edges and in gardens. Two dark spots on the back of its head look like eyes, and small birds mob it when they find it.
- Identification
- A tiny owl, about 16 cm long, with a round head, no ear tufts, yellow eyes and white eyebrows. It ranges from grey-brown to rusty, with fine pale streaks on the crown, a streaked belly and a long tail crossed by narrow dark bars.
- Voice
- A long, steady series of whistled hoots, “hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo”, often given in daylight. Small songbirds know the sound and gather to scold it.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftAn owl in broad daylight
Unlike most owls, it is often out by day, hunting most around sunrise and sunset. With its small size and long tail it is easily taken for a songbird, until it cocks its tail or flicks it from side to side when agitated. 1,2
Eyes in the back of its head
The two black spots on the back of its head are known as false eyes. The leading idea is that they protect it from its own prey: small birds that mob an owl tend to attack from behind, and a ’face’ on the nape may make them keep their distance. 3,4
The mobbed strikes back
Mobbing it can be a fatal mistake. In Brazil, a researcher photographed one catching a Fork-tailed Flycatcher that was mobbing it, a bird weighing a third or more of the owl’s own weight. Twelve species took part in mobbing that owl. 5,6
Small but everywhere
From 1840 to 1991 it was the most collected owl species in Mexico, and it may be the commonest small owl in the lowlands of the American tropics. 1
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (opens in a new tab)
- eBird: Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (opens in a new tab)
- Audubon: These Birds of Prey Have Eyes in the Backs of Their Heads (opens in a new tab)
- Animal Diversity Web: Glaucidium brasilianum (opens in a new tab)
- Motta-Junior 2007, Biota Neotropica 7(2): 321 (opens in a new tab)
- Audubon Field Guide: Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (opens in a new tab)
- BirdLife International, Data Zone: Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Glaucidium brasilianum (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 18,805 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
Tell us where, or ask how to find one.
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