Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in flight against a partly cloudy sky, the bird's tail showing the classic split, its pale wings showing red on the underside where it meets the body.
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • Daily Shows
    • Threatened
    • Grouse
    • BirdNote Presents
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
    • Success Stories
  • About
    • The BirdNote Story
    • The Team
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

Northern Saw-whet - The Christmas Tree Owl

A very special ornament!
Subscribe to the Podcast
Download
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Northern Saw-whet Owl
© Ethan.Gosnell2 CC

Christmas tree plantations may not be the best habitat for wild birds, but they do hold an attraction - for Northern Saw-Whet Owls. These miniature owls seem to feel at home in the small evergreens. And when the birds are spotted, they're most likely to remain motionless rather than fly away. So it's not surprising that, a few years ago, a Saw-Whet Owl in Oregon took a long, strange trip. It was found in a Christmas tree by a family in British Columbia! So if you buy a Christmas tree this year, check it carefully - you may get more than you bargained for!

Support for BirdNote comes from American Bird Conservancy and Bringing Back the Birds, a photo book by Owen Deutsch on the importance of protecting birdscapes. Available at amazon.com.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®

Northern Saw-Whet Owl – The Christmas Tree Owl

Written by Ellen Blackstone

This is BirdNote.

[People outdoors singing “O Tannenbaum” in the snow]

Christmas tree plantations may not be the best habitat for wild birds, but they do hold an attraction – for Northern Saw-Whet Owls. [Hoots of owl]

These miniature owls seem to feel at home in the small evergreens. And when the birds are spotted, they’re most likely to remain motionless rather than fly away.

So it’s not surprising that, a few years ago, a Saw-Whet Owl in Oregon took a long, strange trip. In the middle of December, a lovely little evergreen was cut down on an Oregon tree farm. Turns out, this tree already had an ornament – a tiny Saw-whet Owl, hunkered close to its trunk. The tree – owl and all – was wrapped in a mesh bag, and off it went to British Columbia.

The owl traveled in its needly prison, in a stack of Christmas trees, for a week or more. Imagine the surprise of the family who found it! Fortunately for that little owl, a wildlife rehabilitator nearby knew just how to take care of a hungry, dehydrated owl. It was nursed back to health and regained its life in the wild. [Hoots of owl + O Tannenbaum].

So if you buy a Christmas tree this year, you may get more than you bargained for. [Hoots of owl] 

Hey, I hope I do! For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.

Support for BirdNote comes from American Bird Conservancy and Bringing Back the Birds, a photo book by Owen Deutsch on the importance of protecting birdscapes. Available at amazon.com.

###

Sounds of Northern Saw-whet Owl [89405] provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, recorded by T. Knight.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org     December 2013/2017/2020   Narrator: Mary McCann

ID#    NSWO-02-2011-12-14

Ellen Blackstone
Writer
Mary McCann
Narrator
Support More Shows Like This
TagsCanada Oregon raptor forest owl

Related Resources

Rocky the Northern Saw-Whet -- One lucky little owl! 2020Saw-Whet Owl — More at the Audubon Guide to North American BirdsSaw-Whet Owl - More at All About Birds

More About These Birds

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)

Aegolius acadicus

Sights & Sounds

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • Daily Shows
  • Field Notes
  • BirdNote Presents
  • Sights & Sounds
  • About BirdNote
  • Contact BirdNote
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy