Northern Saw-Whet Owl Found in Alabama

Contrary to its name and generations of record-keeping, it turns out that the Northern saw-whet owl (see here and here) has been spending some secret time in the South, including Alabama.

The saw-whet owl has had the birding world fooled since the beginning of American records, which show that the bird can be found only in the northern United States and Canada. It was known to migrate over other parts of the continent, but never as far south as Alabama -- until Bob and Martha Sargent caught nine of the owls at their Clay, Alabama home.

The Sargents use some technology that wasn't available to past bird-watchers, including an MP3 player to call the owl. Using nets, amplifiers and an MP3 player calling the bird in, the Sargents finally got nine owls on their third year of trying.

The saw-whet is named for its frightened shriek that sounds like a saw sharpening.



Original article here.