Behaviour and Conservation: While some saw-whet owls stay in the same area all year round, others have been known to migrate short distances. Despite their small stature, saw-whet owls can travel surprisingly far within a short amount of time. In one instance, a banded individual caught north of Pigeon Lake in Ontario was later observed in New York State within 24 hours after release. Flight uses up large amounts of energy, to make up for this, saw-whet owls feed regularly and are able to consume up to two deer mice in a night, quite a feat for a ~151g (~5.3oz) bird. In order to do this, owls need to sleep as much as they can during the day, that way they will be well rested at night to hunt. Photographers getting too close to an owl can cause the bird to lose both sleep and energy by inadvertently or even intentionally waking the owl up to get a photograph. Because they are trying to conserve energy, many owls will not fly away but instead try to hide. If stressed, a saw whet owl will stretch its body, appearing thinner and looking like part of the tree. When photographing owls it’s always good to exercise proper ethics for the well-being of the animal. This includes not getting so close that it wakes up and/or shows sign of stress, not to bait the owl with pet store mice which can cause ailments, and not to share the locations of owls to avoid them becoming swarmed by photographers.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Seeing owls sleeping during the day is exciting, but it is pure magic to see one in the evening, watch as it slowly wakes from its slumber, meticulously grooms its feathers, before taking flight, disappearing into the darkness. In Ojibway, owls are known as 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘰’𝘰𝘰, an onomatopoeic name based on the call of the barred owl. These calls play a role in Ojibway culture by guiding the souls of those who have recently passed to the spirit world. Because of their association with death, the calls of owls are often associated bad fortune, but they act as warnings so that one may prevent unfortunate events from unfolding (Geniusz, 2012). In some stories, the sight of an owl would be a bad omen because, instead of an owl, it may be a malevolent spirit in disguise. Throughout Ojibway stories, owls act as guides, teachers and protectors (Rempel, 2019).
Ecology and Diet: Saw whet owls are opportunistic hunters that will feed on a wide range of prey depending on what can be found in their area. Those in Ontario will feed almost exclusively on field mice and voles which are plentiful, but will also prey on smaller birds. Coastal populations however, such as those in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, have been observed feeding on seafood. These owls have been found preying on large marine Isopoda and beach hoppers, crustaceans that emerge at night to feed on whatever has washed ashore. Here, they can become distracted by the surplus of food and susceptible to predatory birds. To catch this unusual prey, saw whet owls will hop amongst the rocky shoreline probing for invertebrates, a behaviour more akin to a sandpiper than an owl.
Sources:
"Gookooko'oo." The Ojibwe People's Dictionary, The Cornell Lab, 2021, ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/gookooko-oo-na. Accessed 5 Feb. 2022. Hobson, Keith A., and Spencer G. Sealy. "Marine Protein Contributions to the Diet of Northern Saw-Whet Owls on the Queen Charlotte Islands: A Stable-Isotope Approach." Jstor, The Auk, Apr. 1991, www.jstor.org/stable/4087972. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Makoons Geniusz, Wendy. "Gookooko'oog: Owls and Their Role in Anishinaabe Culture." , University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Jan. 2012, ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/ALGQP/article/download/1284/1171/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2022. "Northern Saw-Whet Owl Identification." All About Birds, The Cornell Lab, 2019, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id. Accessed 5 Feb. 2022. "Northern Saw-Whet Owl." Nature Mapping Foundation, naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/northern_saw-whet_owl_712.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2022. Rempel, Zachary. "An Anishinaabe Ethno-ornithology of Wabaseemoong Independent Nations." University of Manitoba, 2019, umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/pdf/2020/Masters%20Thesis%20Rempel%202020.pdf. Accessed 5 Feb. 2022. |