Elf Owl

• anatomíaIt is one of the smallest owls in the world and usually nests in holes cut by woodpeckers in the great saguaro cacti of the Sonoran Desert.
• It is the smallest owl in the world: it weighs the same as two coins and fits in the palm of a hand.
• It depends on woodpeckers and on saguaros: the woodpeckers excavate the cavity, the cactus heals it over into an insulating chamber known as a saguaro boot, and the owl moves in years later.
• It eats scorpions after tearing off the sting, along with spiders and large moths: it is one of the few essentially insectivorous owls in the world.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Saguaro desert and montane oak woodland of south-western North America

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

24 days

Litter / clutch size

2

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Micrathene whitneyi

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.