FAYETTEVILLE — Wildlife biologists at the University of Arkansas have captured and documented the first northern saw-whet owl in the state.
Between 1959 and 2010, only a dozen sightings of this rare bird, which is much smaller than screech, barred or great horned owls, had been recorded.
But an adult female has been captured by Kimberly Smith, a professor of biological sciences, and Mitchell Pruitt, an Honors College undergraduate student majoring in crop, soil and environmental sciences. The owl was captured and banded at the Ozark Natural Science Center near Huntsville in November.
The northern saw-whet, whose habitat is typically the northern U.S. and along various ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, is a small, secretive species that prefers low, brushy areas. They eat mice and spend their days silently perched in trees.