Northern Saw-whet Owls

Saw whet owl-Kathy Clayton

Saw-whet owls have yellow eyes, white faces, white-speckled heads, and mottled brown feathers. Small birds that only weigh 2.3-5.3 ounces and stand 7.1-8.3 inches, they tend to eat mice. An adult mouse will sometimes last a saw-whet owl two meals.

Usually found in forests, the saw-whet owl is one of the most common owls in North America. Very nocturnal, they are rarely seen but frequently heard. They repeatedly make shrill too-too-too calls. They were even named for their call, which sounds like a “saw being sharpened on a whetting stone.” Drumlin Farm participates in banding projects in the fall, and the owls are caught by playing a tape of saw-whet calls that lures them into a net. Listen to a recordings of different saw-whet owl calls from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

When raising young, the male exclusively hunts and the female exclusively incubates and cares for the babies. The female leaves the nest when the youngest is 18 days old, but the male continues to bring food to the owlets for the next 10-14 days, until the babies fledge. During this time without the mother, the previously spotless nest turns into a pigsty, with feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts. Occasionally, when prey is plentiful, males have broods with multiple females at the same time.

Participants in a children’s program pose with a saw-whet owl from our Wildlife Care facility.

You can experience saw-whet owls for yourself during our adult program, An Evening with Saw-whet Owls. You will get to know New England’s smallest native owl with a short discussion and slideshow before heading out for some banding! Register online today to secure your spot, or call our program registrar at 781-259-2206.


Guest author Libby Koger is a Drumlin Farm volunteer. Information from: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id. Recording from the Macaulay Library, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Information from: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id