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Saw-whet owls netted: how to find winter Saw-whets



The single Northern Saw-whet Owls netted at Halifax NC on October 31 and 
November 1st seemed to indicate a large, early movement of the species.
Both were adult females.  Typically some 75% of the birds netted along the 
East Coast from Cape May to NC are females.  My usual average catch of this 
species is 5, and the peak time is Nov. 18-21, so these two birds are "early 
and many".
However, none have since been captured, and years with high numbers are 
ordinarily some 75% immatures.  This suggests that reported blizzards in the 
Midwest and cold weather in the Northeast have pushed a fairly small number 
of mostly adult Saw-whets to us.

There are two places in the Carolinas where Saw-whets are often seen:  
McClellanville, SC, just before and on the CBC, and Mashoes Road at Manns 
Harbor, NC, both in the northeastern corner of the states.

Sometimes Saw-whets in winter will call "toot-toot-toot ..." in  response to 
Screech-owl calls, in the case I know about, to a very high-pitched quavery 
call given by young humans.  There also is a "challenge" call, a whine like 
a cross between a Catbird and a Sapsucker that has been heard in NC, in 
response, I believe, to a Saw-whet tape (song= "toot-toot-toot").  It is 
possible that Saw-whets in the Southeast do not as often give the 
"toot-toot.." song because most of the birds in the field are females, and 
first-year females, at that.

At Quabbin Reservoir CBC in Massachusetts, I understand Saw-whets will 
sometimes respond to Screech-owl tapes, sometimes with their own, similar 
Saw-whet quaver, and the "challenge" whine is sometimes heard during 
pre-dawn owling.  But, the typical scenario on that CBC (which often gets 
the high count for Saw-whets in the nation) is for Saw-whet song to be 
delivered in response to Saw-whet song.

While it sounds like there are more male Saw-whets farther north, and so 
Saw-whet song can be heard there more regularly by observers, and used to 
census owls, it is true that records for Saw-whet in Florida include birds 
which persistently and/or spontaneously sang; and there are other records in 
the Southeast for singing Saw-whets away from the mountains where they are 
known to breed.
Again, some 25% of the migrants in the Southeast are males, and females 
presumably can sing at times although, as in the human species, males do 
seem to be more vocal.
If we do not use Saw-whet tapes (or our voices--this is an easy song to 
imitate) when owling, we can hardly expect to find the species.

Oh yes, it is very difficult to find a roosting Saw-whet, partly because 
they are so "tame" that they do not flush even if you pass close by them; I 
found it difficult to find or re-find banded birds, even those released 
after daylight.  We all know that the smaller the bird, usually the less 
likely or closer it will flush.  No percentage for the bird to move about 
just to give a predator a shot at it!

Two good ways to find roosting Saw-whets are:
(1) to use a dog which likes to find them for you (apparently one poodle got 
satisfaction from seeing the owl flapping at the end of a noose-pole which 
the dog's owner used to capture and band the owls), and
(2) to return to a known roost site.  Different individual Saw-whets will 
use the same roost site over the course of the winter.  One person using 
this method would find roosts by searching the area near where a road-killed 
Saw-whet was found.
Roosts typically have a bit of whitewash and "teeny-tiny" owl pellets, 
perhaps a cm in diameter.  You might even get lucky and find a cache 
consisting of the half a bird or half a mouse, which might be even more 
visible than the owl pellets.  Saw-whets kill mice and thrush-sized birds, 
but often eat only the head-end, on the first go-round.
Presumably the dog might also have cued in on the smell of the pellets and 
whitewash, but Saw-whets, to me, seem to smell like sparrows or galliform 
birds, so perhaps the dog cues in on the actual bird rather than its waste 
products at the roost.
The dog was not deliberately trained, but proved more effective than the 
person at finding roosting birds.  While I do not want dogs around when I am 
birding, maybe some dog-loving Carolinabirders have had luck finding rails, 
owl roosts, woodcock and much more.  Someday I hope to become more of a 
dog-lover myself, since a leashed dog probably would up the number of rails 
I can find by severalfold.  A Midwestern birder described how a Springer 
Spaniel put up an elusive, noncalling Yellow Rail within minutes.
Both these methods of finding roosting Saw-whets were first reported to me 
by a person in New Jersey near Philadelphia PA, where the species is much 
more common than in the Southeast.
In Iowa some observers had good luck finding roosting Saw-whets in red 
cedars in open fields.  This tree, recently discussed in Carolinabirds, not 
only gives good cover to the owl, but often may be found in open stands 
where it it possible to effectively search the entire small tree.
Wintering Saw-whets seem to roost on branches rather than in tree-hollows.  
But, Screech-owls will roost on branches of cedars and other trees, as well 
as in holes.
In woodlands, red cedar is often so spindly and etiolated I would not expect 
Saw-whets to use them, and I also suspect that this owl occurs in more open 
habitats than most experts would credit.  Honeysuckle thickets in woodlands 
are often thick enough to give the bird excellent cover (as in Cape May, 
NJ).  The presence of Screech-owls in woodlands may be a reason why 
Saw-whets might prefer more open habitats in winter.

That is most of what I know about "how to spot a Saw-whet Owl here in 
winter".  Again, my usual apologies for excessive wordiness.


Frank Enders, Halifax NC.  fkenders@hotmail.com

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