Are they endangered?
No, they are not endangered. (IUCN Red list: Least concern.)
They are yellow-listed in the National Audubon Society’s 2007
Watchlist which means that their numbers are
decreasing and
conservation efforts should be made.
What are their
past/present problems?
Their biggest problem is logging, where the forests
where they live are cut down.
They also have problems with forests that
get very thick with bushes and trees. This makes hunting for
prey harder. Other things like cold weather cause their insect
prey to not come out. When that happens, many owls and owlets
die from hunger.
What do they look
like?
These owls are colored for camouflage (hiding in trees). They
have a brown back with feathers that have orange and white
edges. Their raised brow is white and their face is striped
with white and brown. Their bellies are white, brown, and
reddish brown spotted. Their tails are brown and white striped.
How big are they?
Their length is 6-7 inches long (very small) and if they spread
out their wings, they would only reach a foot wide.
How many eggs do they
lay?
The female Flammulated Owl lays from 2 to 4 white eggs once a
year. Hatches in a little more than 3 weeks.
How long do the
fledglings stay in the nest?
These birds like to live in tree holes that other birds don’t
live in anymore. They will also find other holes in trees.
Young birds [fledglings] stay in the nest for about 25 days.
When do they hunt?
They hunt at night. (nocturnal)
What do they eat?
They eat insects, spiders, small mammals like , and small
birds. (Most of the time they don’t eat mice, but who can take
the chance??)
Where do they live?
They live in Canada, the United States, Central America and
Mexico.
What kind of place do
they like to live in?
These birds like forests that have lots of pine trees
and oak trees in them.
Interesting facts:
Out of all the owls in North America, the Flammulated
Owl is one of the tiniest.
These birds will catch their prey while they are flying,
while they are on the ground, or even as the prey crawls
in the trees.
The owls fly silently.
Works Cited:
Alsop, Fred. Birds of North America. New York: DK
Publishing, 2001.
