General Information

This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as Strigidae, the family that contains largest amount of owl species.

Physical Description

The Ferruginous Pygmy Owl is small, typically 6 in, and stocky with oddly large talons. The upperparts are brown, heavily spotted and/or streaked with white on the crown and wing coverts. The under parts are white, streaked with brown. There are two eyespots on the nape. The tail is barred brown and black. The sexes are similar and the females are slightly larger and more reddish, especially on the brown in the tail. Both sexes have a rapid flight that stays very low to the ground with long swoops.

Diet

The Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl feeds mostly on insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, other large insects and scorpions. In addition, their diet consists of birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles (often lizards).

Habitat

In general, the Ferruginous Pygmy is a lowland bird found in arid habitats.   They cover a vast area from the southwest part of the United States to the open pastures of Argentina. They prefer nesting in the natural cavity of a tree, stump or snag, old woodpecker holes, tree forks or depressions, and occasionally in a sand bank or termite mound.  

Reproduction

The breeding season for this species may begin as soon as early April and last as late as mid-June. The clutch size is usually 3 or 4 eggs but 2 to 5 are not uncommon. The female normally does the incubation and brooding, and the eggs hatch after approximately 28 days. Both adults will bring food to the young at 3 weeks after they hatch. Intense brood competition over prey may result in fatalities of the young.