Elf Owl

The Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a member of the family Strigidae that lives in the United States. It is the smallest owl, being about the same size as a sparrow.

Related Topics:
Family - Strigidae - United States - Sparrow

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Range: Breeds from southeastern California, extreme southern Nevada, central Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and western and southern Texas south to Mexico. Winters in Mexico.

Related Topics:
California - Nevada - Arizona - New Mexico - Texas - Mexico

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Status: Common.

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Habitat: Prefers arid, low elevation desert areas overgrown with cacti, mesquite, and creosote bush, or with agave, ocotillo, and cactus desert scrub. Also inhabits riparian cottonwood and willow groves; mesquite floodplains; walnut, sycamore, and oak woodlands; and juniper, pinyon pine, and oak woodlands up to 7,000 feet in elevation. Avoids pure stands of pine, but will inhabit almost every other type of dry, woody vegetation.

Related Topics:
Desert - Cacti - Mesquite - Creosote - Agave - Ocotillo - Cottonwood - Willow - Floodplain - Walnut - Sycamore - Oak - Juniper - Pinyon pine - Pine - Vegetation

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Special habitat requirements: Abandoned woodpecker holes for nesting.

Related Topics:
Woodpecker - Nest

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Nest: Nests in abandoned woodpecker holes, especially in saguaro cactus but also in agave bloom stalks, tree stumps, cottonwoods, mesquite, sycamore, pines, walnut oaks, or willows growing on mesas and desert slopes and in canyons. Nests generally 10 to 30 feet above the ground.

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These birds prey primarily on large insects, but they also eat scorpions and, rarely, lizards, snakes, and small birds.

Related Topics:
Insect - Scorpion - Lizard - Snake

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