Northern Saw-whet Owl
Fall Migration-Monitoring Program

Northern Saw-whet OwlGoals of our program:

  1. Determining when Saw-whets pass through the Beaverhill Lake area during the fall.

  2. Determine relative abundance of owls that pass through (number of owls caught using netting technique)

  3. Inform the public about our program

  4. Encourage volunteer participation


Feb. 3, 2004:
Northern Saw-whet Owl BandingOur first Northern Saw-whet Owl band recovery!!

The bird was banded on the 14th of October 2002 by Richard Krikun at the BBO (hatch-year female).

The owl was found dead on the 3rd of February 2004 by Kenneth Ewan at Dewberry, Alberta. Dewberry is 134km east of the BBO.

Hopefully the first of many BBO Saw-whet recoveries (there are less than 10 recoveries of Saw-whets from Alberta).

northern Saw-whet owl Poster SampleSaw-whet Owls migrate later in the fall than songbirds. This means the BBO must staff the observatory an extra month and a half. If you would like to support this project, donations would be greatly appreciated! The BBO is accepting donations to help us with our saw-whet migration monitoring project. Tax receipts can be issued for all donations and for donations of $50.00 or more we will send you an 8x10 print of a Northern Saw-whet Owl (below).

Please send donations to:

Saw-whet Monitoring
Beaverhill Bird Observatory
P.O. Box 1418
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J-2N5

Cheques can be made out to the Beaverhill Bird Observatory. Thank you for supporting us!