Interesting Birds

[Steven B in PV]

Last night I heard either my first Northern saw-whet or northern Pygmy owl calling. Wondering if someone knows which one is more common up here? I can’t clearly distinguish which one the call belonged to.

Karla, both are probably equally likely to be in the JT area now, along with screech-owl, great horned, and possibly long-eared.  Flammulated should arrive before long.  

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ offers species accounts and some recordings of songs and calls.  Xeno-Canto has many more recordings from regions around the country.  https://xeno-canto.org/species/Glaucidiu...dium+gnoma  https://xeno-canto.org/species/Aegolius-acadicus 

Another helpful tool is the free phone app, Merlin.  When opened, Merlin can ID birds from a photo or a recording taken with the phone.  Neat stuff.

Pygmy Owls are diurnal whereas Saw-whets are nocturnal, so the time of day they call might help with ID.  But, I have seen and heard Pygmies call at night, and Saw-whets call very briefly in the daytime.  Because of their night/day activity, Saw-whets have adapted to fly silently while Pygmy Owl flight can be readily heard.  I encounter both Pygmy and Saw-Whet Owls nearly every year and am often able to call them in by mimicking their calls.  Pygmy Owl calls tend to be louder and a few times I've brought them in from a half mile away.  To avoid disrupting their mating it's best to limit calling to a few moments.

I hope you have a chance to see the bird.