“Boreal Owl, Alpine Solitaire”

This smaller owl is like a cross between the Northern Hawk and Northern Saw-Whet owls, with a square, black-rimmed pale face and yellow bill. Their calls are a series of trilling toots, often the only way to find this owl in stands of thick conifers in the cold northern latitudes. Boreal Owls eat small mammals, birds, and insects. They hunt at night, except in the far north, where the sun doesn’t set in the summer. From hunting perches, they sit and wait for prey before attacking it with their talons. Like other owls, they cough up pellets of indigestible bones and fur, usually once a day. They roost in a different tree every day. Though nonmigratory, they may be seen further south of their range when food is scarce on their breeding grounds. 

The male advertises 1–5 nest sites within his territory, from which the female chooses. They nest in holes in trees (cavities) created by woodpeckers or in natural holes. They also nest in nest boxes. Boreal Owls are solitary birds, even during the breeding season. Mated pairs don’t roost together and typically only meet at the nest site during courtship and feeding. The male courts the female with song and food, feeding her for up to 3 months before nesting. He continues to bring food to the female throughout the nesting period. Males and females form monogamous bonds in North America for a single breeding season. In Europe, males sometimes mate with more than one female and can produce more than one brood per season, unlike the single-brooded pairs in North America. Males sing to maintain their territory but only defend the area surrounding the nest cavity, not the entire foraging territory.

Boreal Owls are uncommon and infrequently encountered. Their boreal range and nocturnal habits mean that their populations are not surveyed by the North American Breeding Bird Survey, and little is known about population trends. They remain of low conservation concern. 

Sources: Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with hard maple float frame.

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