From The Owl Research institute
Have you ever noticed how much variation there is in the faces of Northern Saw-whet Owls? Take alook at these side-by-side comparisons and see how different each owl can look from the rest.
One datapoint ORI collects from each owl is the amount of facial white right around the face. As you can see, some owls have a lot of white, and some have hardly any at all; it certainly is interesting to see all the faces that pass through our station.
5th row down, 4 in from left is my fav.
What's yours?
She/he looks coy ๐ฅฒ
Its modesty is very becoming!
Saw Whet Owls are impossible to tell apart other than observing them during nesting, because the females don't leave.
There's no specific color difference. As you see, they have many different looks. The way it is done in the field is by taking weight and wing measurements and comparing that to their age (determined by looking at the wing feathers under an UV light!) and then the observer can use those stats to get a reasonable determination of sex.
To be sure, DNA tests are done, but that isn't feasible for doing a number of owls, such as during a banding program.
I'm loving all the bonus facts, thanks so much!
Lol I'm glad. I try to not be that old relative that only takes you to do things that are educational. I want people here to have fun, but I just find so many things I feel are amazing to learn about. I try to keep the really dry, hard to understand things like research papers separate, but I like tossing in easy to understand things like how to tell the male/female owls apart.
I skimmed a 10 page research paper to get you that little blep of info. I usually read the whole thing if I have the time and understanding for what it is, but I'm sure most of you just want the tl;dr, and there's nothing wrong with that!
I just worry I throw too much at you guys sometimes, so I like when you give me feedback like this. I want to give you as much as you want without making it boring. That's what I think of when I think of my favorite people that have taught me things, and that's what I want to be for all of you.
I mean I can't speak for anyone else, but I absolutely love a good infodump! Nothing gets me excited about a topic like listening to someone who is clearly so enthusiastic and passionate about it. It's one of the best parts of life. Thanks again and I hope you continue!