A round-headed owl without ear hairs A small owl . Females are larger than males, weighing an average of 15 grams. There are small white or dark yellow spots on the crown, and two large black or dark brown spots on the neck. The upper edge is brownish white and the lower edge is light cinnamon color, forming a "pillow face". Greyish brown to dark brown upper part with white and dark yellow spots on mantle and back. The outer web of the scapula is irregularly spotted with white or light brown spots. The flight feathers of and have light and dark stripes, and the brown to reddish-brown tail has five or six narrow white stripes. Underneath, the feathers are off-white to white-brown, with a fairly flat area from the throat to the lower breast, with reddish-brown and white spots on the sides and some of the flanks of the upper breast, and dark stripes on the rest of the lower part. The face is light brown with spots, paler and darker, and the eyebrows are narrow and white. The eyes are yellow. The bill is yellow.
Yellowish-grey meninges usually swell around the nostrils. Tarsi has long feathers, yellow-gray toe hair, brown horn claws and dark tips. Young downy chickens are white. Mesozoans have an unspotted gray crest and a more gray brain than adults. In flight it displays more pointed wings and a shorter tail than the northern pygmy owl . Pronounces a long sequence of short staccato sounds, gewgew-gewgew-gew-gew-gew, given in double and single tones. Food and Hunting Feed primarily on insects, but also on small mammals, birds, and reptiles. The habitat is 1500m-3500m mountain moist pine or pine oak evergreen forest.
Status and distribution Highlands of Arizona, southern United States to central Mexico , where it does not appear to be rare but suffers from forest damage. Geographic variation haplotypes. Previously, this owl also included three other species; they are now classified as the Northern Owl, the Baja Owl, and the Guatemalan Owl, although the taxonomy of the entire group still requires further study. The partially sympatric Northern Pygmy Owl is larger, has a long tail, and has rounded wing tips.
