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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
PYGMY OWL (Glaucidiun passerinum)
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.
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")
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.
(from:http://www.owlpages.com/index.php)
Photographeted into Tierpark, National Park of the Bayerischerwald.
For this photo I used the lens at @300 mm and iso 200.
ps for levels, cropped, colors, sharpness and resize.
Angelo |
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