WatchList Species Account for Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi)

Qualifies for the list as a Rare Yellow List Species

Photo: © Greg Clark, 2002

The world’s smallest owl, the Elf Owl, breeds in a limited range in subtropical thorn woodland, upland desert, montane evergreen woodland and riparian forest in several populations near the U.S.-Mexico border from the Colorado River to the lower Rio Grande, wintering in southern Mexico. There are also three resident populations in Mexico. It is insectivorous and nests in woodpecker cavities. It is probably the most abundant raptor in upland deserts of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, but due to loss and degradation of habitat it has become quite rare in parts of its U.S. range.

Riparian habitat is threatened throughout the western U.S., due to water diversion, degradation of unfenced streams by cattle, and the invasion of non-native plants, particularly Sald Cedar. Little information is available about the owl’s overall population status. Drought at lower elevations and freezing temperatures and snow cover at higher elevations may locally depress or even extirpate populations. Reintroduction programs in southern California have had mixed success. Efforts to reestablish the bird in riparian woodland along the Lower Colorado River, including use of nest-boxes, has also met with mixed results.