Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Strigiformes > Strigidae > Micrathene > Micrathene whitneyi

Micrathene whitneyi (Elf Owl)

Synonyms: Athene whitneyi
Language: Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a member of the owl family Strigidae, that breeds in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is the world's lightest owl, although the long-whiskered owlet and the Tamaulipas pygmy owl are of a similarly diminutive length. The mean body weight of this species is 40 grams (1.4 ounces). These tiny owls are 12.5 to 14.5 centimetres (4.9 to 5.7 in) long and have a wingspan of about 27 cm (10.5 in). Their primary projection extends nearly past their tail. They have fairly long legs and often appear bow-legged. They can often be heard calling to one another just after dusk or at sunset. Their call is a high-pitched whinny or chuckle. The male and female dart around trees and call back and forth.
View Wikipedia Record: Micrathene whitneyi

Infraspecies

Micrathene whitneyi graysoni (Socorro elf owl)
Micrathene whitneyi idonea
Micrathene whitneyi sanfordi (Elf owl)
Micrathene whitneyi whitneyi (Elf owl)

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
17
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
43
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 34.3354
EDGE Score: 3.56488
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  45 grams
Breeding Habitat [2]  Desert scrub
Wintering Geography [2]  Pacific Lowlands
Wintering Habitat [2]  Tropical dry forests
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Invertebrates)
Diet - Invertibrates [3]  100 %
Forages - Mid-High [3]  20 %
Forages - Understory [3]  40 %
Forages - Ground [3]  40 %
Clutch Size [5]  2
Clutches / Year [4]  1
Fledging [1]  30 days
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  84,000
Incubation [4]  24 days
Maximum Longevity [4]  14 years
Nocturnal [6]  Yes
Raptor Research Conservation Priority [7]  79
Snout to Vent Length [1]  6 inches (14 cm)
Female Maturity [4]  1 year

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands Mexico, United States No
Mesoamerica Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama No

Predators

Accipiter cooperii (Cooper's Hawk)[8]
Bassariscus astutus (Ringtail)[8]
Bubo virginianus (Great Horned Owl)[8]
Pituophis melanoleucus (Eastern Pine Snake)[8]
Senticolis triaspis (Green Rat Snake)[8]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Audio

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Provided by Center for Biological Diversity via Myxer Author: ASU-Ask A Biologist

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 4de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 6Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 7Buechley ER, Santangeli A, Girardello M, et al. Global raptor research and conservation priorities: Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps. Divers Distrib. 2019;25:856–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12901
♦ 8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Audio software provided by SoundManager 2
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0