A great horned owl or barred owl may cut a majestic figure in the night sky, but no owl in northern Minnesota is as adorable as the tiny Northern Saw-whet owl.
Weighing about 4 ounces and measuring about 7 inches from head to tail, Northern Saw-whet owls are the smallest owls east of the Mississippi River. Saw-whets are named after the sound they make, which is reminiscent of a “saw” being “whet.”
It’s not uncommon for Bearskin guests to inquire about a persistent, annoying squeaking noise outside their cabin, especially on winter nights. Sometimes it sounds like we really need to go out with a can of W-40 to oil some squeaky piece of machinery. That’s because of Bearskin’s very active Saw-whet population.
Northern Saw-whet Owls have a repetitive toot-toot-toot song, at a consistent interval of about 2 notes per second and an unchanging pitch — just like a squeaking, metallic wheel. Their sounds carry up to half a mile away on a still night. Some males call to announce the location of their territory, while other males respond to this communication with a slightly different, faster version of the song. Females also use a similar song during courting. That can be a whole lot of squeaking in the woods some nights!
Here’s an excellent audio piece from BirdNote that includes recordings of various Saw-whet calls.
Where to See a Saw-Whet
It can be hard to catch a glimpse of a saw-whet owl due to their tiny size, but that doesn’t mean they’re rare. Saw-whets are among the most common owls in North America with a range that spans from southern Canada through much of the United States and parts of Mexico. They prefer dense forests, so Bearskin is a great place to find one.
Saw-whet owls are not much bigger than a robin, and with their brown and white coloring, they blend right into the trees. You’re likely to find them perched in thick pines.
While you can see a saw-whet owl in Minnesota at any time, the best time to hear one is during their breeding season, which lasts from March to May.
One tip for finding a saw-whet owl when you can’t hear their own distinctive call is to listen for the alarm calls of birds like blue jays or chickadees. When these birds come across a sleeping predator during the day—even the miniscule saw-whet—they tend to sound the alarm.
The Life of a Saw-Whet Owl
Saw-whet owls live in coniferous forests and cedar swamps. Some of them live in Minnesota year-round, while others head for warmer places in the winter. They are nocturnal and sleep silently in the trees during the day.
All that tooting you hear in the spring is the male saw-whet defending his territory and trying to find a mate. Once the saw-whets have coupled up, they nest in a cavity somewhere—often in abandoned woodpecker holes. Females pick the nesting site, although males sometimes participate by perching in potential sites and giving their “toot” call. Once a site is chosen, the female lays eggs. She usually lays 5 or 6, but it can be as few as 3 or as many as 9. They don’t use the same nesting sites from year to year.
The female remains in the nest, sitting on her eggs for around 28 days, while the male brings her food. He continues his role as the provider until the chicks are about 18 days old. At that point, the female starts hunting a bit as well.
Young saw-whets leave the nest at about 4-5 weeks old, but they don’t split up. They hang around in a group close to the nest and continue to be fed, mostly by their father. If you’re lucky you might spot a whole group of juvenile siblings congregating together. Immature saw-whets are colored differently than their parents, with dark brown heads and tawny bodies. After the young have left the nest, the mother owl sometimes finds another mate and has a second set of chicks in the same season.
Saw-whet owls may be small, but if you’re a mouse, they’re deadly. Small rodents are their primary prey, but they’ve also been known to feast on songbirds, especially during migration.
The oldest known northern saw-whet owl in the wild lived to be 10 years old, but on average their lifespan is closer to 4 years.
Saw-whet Owl Migration
The migration pattern of saw-whet owls is highly variable. Some of the owls are very nomadic, moving from place to place without any particular loyalty to a certain breeding ground or wintering ground, while other groups of saw-whets return to the same places every year. Some don’t migrate at all. Some of them always take the same migratory route, while others mix it up. Males are more likely to spend the winter in one place while the females migrate, and even if the males do migrate, they don’t go as far south on average. This variation makes it hard to predict the pattern of the saw-whet migration each year. One thing we do know is that the number of owls passing through our area usually peaks in October.
The Future of Saw-Whet Owls
At this point, although the number of saw-whet owls has probably diminished somewhat due to habitat destruction, they’re not considered threatened or endangered. However, the Audubon Society predicts a 99% loss of their current winter range by 2080. Using this modeling tool, we can see that we would still be likely to see our tiny owl friends in northern Minnesota in the winter, but they would probably not nest here anymore.
For now, the Gunflint Trail area provides an ideal habitat for saw-whet owls in a time when many other dense forests have been logged. Visit us next spring to hear them calling for mates in the evening.
