Plate 010 · with a beetle, among moss and air plants IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Crown with tiny pale dots, not streaked.
- 2Yellow eyes and white brows.
- 3White breast streaked brown with brown sides.
- 4Brown wings with a few pale spots.
- 5Tail with thin pale bars, flicked from side to side.
Easily confused with Ferruginous Pygmy-OwlGlaucidium brasilianumCrown streaked, not dotted. Lower, drier areas. 010 / 100 · BIRDS · STRIGIDAELEAST CONCERN Yungas Pygmy-Owl
Glaucidium bolivianum
Caburé yungueño
An owl the size of a large sparrow that hunts by day and at dusk. On its nape are two dark patches that look like false eyes. When small forest birds find it, they gather round and mob it noisily.
- Length
- c. 16 cm
- Altitude
- c. 900 – 3,000 m
- Activity
- By day and at dusk
- Nest
- Tree or woodpecker hole
- Day-active owl
- False eyes on nape
- Cloud forest
- Ambush hunter
Altitude rangeA little owl of the cloud forest
Usual range Lives in humid montane and cloud forest, including alder woods. In the low, dry country it is replaced by the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.
FoodA small, bold hunter
- Large insectsbeetles, cicadas, grasshoppers
- Small birdssometimes its own size
- Rodentsforest mice
- Lizardsoccasional
It waits still on a perch and drops onto prey in a short flight.
BehaviourSmall but feared
- Active by day. Hunts and calls by day as well as at dusk.
- Whistled series. Repeats hollow notes, “hoo-hoo-hoo”, sometimes in duet with its mate.
- False eyes. The nape patches confuse anything looking at it from behind.
Where to look in Tucumán- Sierra de San Javier
- Parque Provincial La Florida
- PN Aconquija
- Cuesta del Clavillo
- El Siambón