Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whoo is the smallest of them all? The Elf Owl, that’s whoo! This tiny owl stands only fourteen centimeters tall; that’s about the size of a soda can! Its scientific name, Micrathene, actually means “the little owl” in Greek. So where can you find this pint-size owl? Elf Owls inhabit desert environments, making themselves right at home with sand, Saguaro cacti, and scorpions. In fact, this tough little character will actually dine on scorpions… once it has carefully removed the stingers, of course! Because of their size, Elf Owls prey almost exclusively on arthropods like scorpions, moths, crickets, beetles, and spiders. Water in the desert can be hard to come by; no problem for the Elf Owl! They get all the water they need from the prey they feed upon. Tough as they may sound, these little guys are quite sensitive to disturbances in their habitat. Elf Owls rely on desert cacti and the trees in wooded canyons for nesting. They depend upon birds like Gila Woodpeckers and Flickers to tap out the holes they use for their nests. And of course, they rely on the desert insects for food. Elf Owl populations in the United States have dropped drastically as desert areas have become developed for homes and agriculture. Many people think the desert is devoid of life, when in fact a desert is a fragile, complex ecosystem with a pulsing web of interconnected inhabitants. The Elf Owl is just one of the many unique creatures that call the desert home.
Maps provided by The Birds of North America Online and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
