Flammulated Owl Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A very small owl, similar in shape to a screech-owl but smaller, with shorter “ear” tufts.

  Relative Size

  Smaller than a Western Screech-Owl; about the same size as a Northern Pygmy-Owl.

  between sparrow and robin

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 5.9-6.7 in (15-17 cm)
    • Weight: 1.5-2.2 oz (43-63 g)
    • Wingspan: 15.9-16.1 in (40.5-41 cm)

  © Matt Brady / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Flammulated Owls are gray, brown, rust, and white, well camouflaged against bark and leaves. They have a reddish form, a grayish form, and some intermediate plumages, as some screech-owls do.

• Behavior

  Flammulated Owls roost by day and hunt flying insects by night in the canopy of mature trees and understory. They locate prey visually and capture them in quick sallies from a perch.
• Habitat

  Mature and old coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests of mountains in the western U.S. and Mexico.