Northern Pygmy-Owl
(Glaucidium gnoma)

Overview

Summary

© Kirk Davis
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Northern Pygmy-Owl is a year-round resident of coniferous and deciduous forests in British Columbia and Southwest Alberta. It is at the northern edge of its range in Canada and is very uncommon. Results from the Christmas Bird Count suggest that populations of Northern Pygmy-Owls have changed little relative to about 1970, but they capture only a small fraction of the population and therefore have low reliability. The species is likely affected by loss of mature forest and nesting cavities, but negative population-level effects have not been documented in Canada. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Little is known of the threats facing the Northern Pygmy-Owl in Canada. It is an obligate cavity nester, and may be adversely affected by loss of snags, veteran trees, other trees with existing cavities, and mature forest (Holt and Petersen 2000). It inhabits regions where intensive logging is ongoing but negative effects have not yet been documented for the species in Canada.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Holt, D.W. and J.L. Petersen. 2000. Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Holt, D.W. and J.L. Petersen. 2000. Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)