Eurasian Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium passerinum)

Other Names (World)
Eurasian Pygmy-Owl, Pygmy Owl, Pygmy Owlet, Northern Pygmy-owl(!), Old World Pygmy-owl, European Pygmy-owl (passerinum), Eurasian Pygmy Owl

Family
Strigidae (Typical Owls)

Size
17 - 23 cm
Wingspan: 37 - 41 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Habitat
Mature, open coniferous and mixed boreal forest.

Range (Guide)

Austria (B) (NB), Belarus (B) (NB), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Bulgaria (B), China (mainland), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Estonia (B) (NB), Finland (B) (NB), France (B) (NB), Germany (B), Greece, Italy (B) (NB), Kazakhstan (B), Latvia (B) (NB), Liechtenstein (B) (NB), Lithuania (B) (NB), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B), Norway (B), Poland (B), Romania (B) (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (NB), Russia (European) (B) (NB), Serbia (B), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB), Slovenia (B) (NB), Spain (NB), Sweden (B) (NB), Switzerland (B) (NB), Ukraine (B) (NB).

Vagrant to Belgium, Denmark.

Population
Estimated population is 300,000 - 1,500,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Commonly crepuscular.

Voice
Song is a series of 10 - 15 rising sharp bullfinch-like fluty whistles, 'pjuu pjuu pjuu...' or 'deu deu deu'. Also a rapid series of mellow whistles. In the fall the song differs: 'chuuk-chuuk-cheek-chik'. The female gives a thin thrush-like 'tseeeeh'.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (498)...)

Eurasian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinum) [XC639980]
by Lars Edenius from Waldshut (near G\u00f6rwihl), Freiburg, Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, Germany (song)

Eurasian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium) [XC408350]
by Lars Edenius from Hajn\u00f3wka (near Topi\u0142o), hajnowski, podlaskie, Poland (call, 00:26 - copulation)

Subspecies
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei), Pearl-spotted Owlet (Glaucidium perlatum), Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium californicum) and Mountain Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) (including recently separated Guatemalan Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium cobanense) and Baja Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium hoskinsii)), but DNA evidence clearly shows that present species and Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium californicum) are not closely related. Subspecies orientale intergrades with nominate in western Siberia and Altai Mts.

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

passerinum (Linnaeus, 1758) - From Scandinavia and mountains of south, central and eastern Europe eastern across north-western and central Russia and Siberia to Sakhalin and north-eastern China.
orientale Taczanowski, 1891 - Central and eastern Siberia.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Eurasian Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium passerinum) - 10 files

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BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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