It turns out these little guys have been migrating as far South as Alabama and ornithologists didn’t know it. A local couple here in the Birmingham area has captured (and banded and released) nine of them on their property. Look how beautiful they are.
Very neat! They have a great little toot for a call, always makes me think they have something else to say but just can’t seem get it out. We typically do some banding of these guys when they come through here, Easternshora of VA, on their way back north in the spring, really beautiful birds.
Hardly looks like it could be aerodynamic. Beautiful little thing.
This reminds me of Pigwigeon.
Aw! It’s so cute!! 
I had the same thought. I’d like to see a picture of it in flight, but easier said than done, I guess.
Pigwigeon is a Eurasian Pygmy Owl who have eyebrows very similar to Saw-whets
Thanks, Denny.
Like the helicopter and the hummingbird, it clearly can’t fly.
I mean, look at the size of the head.
Great grey’s look like flying heads In side silhouette they look as if they are missing their head
djm
totally circular, dude!
I didn’t want to do this but my hand was forced.
Some people are so easily influenced. I wouldn’t sink so low myself, of course, but the merest hint and …
djm
This is the shot that shows you what’s happening–the front end is entirely built round two parabolic dishes made out of feathers, which give it incredibly acute directional hearing. It’s able to judge distance and direction by paralax the same way we do with stereoscopic vision.
Nifty little critters. I saw one out in the desert once. Suprisingly tame.
Interesting article on owl hearing: http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Hearing
Tom
Owls of all sorts are just incredible. It’s hard to imagine that a bird so large can be so silent in flight. Amazing
I love owls. Weirdly, although I spent lots of time in the woods, I’ve never seen one out of captivity.
Here’s a closely related species.
Their usual habitat is garages and woodshops.
I once had a great horned owl swoop at my head as I was walking down a trail in broad daylight. It came at me from behind, and I had no idea it was there until I felt the wind from its wings and then saw it as it flew on by. Scared the bejeezus out of me. (I think it was pissed off at me 'cause I’d just spooked a grouse a few seconds before, and I suspect it wanted that grouse for dinner.) The owl landed on a tree branch about 20 feet away and just stared at me for a while. Beautiful bird, and big. And of course I didn’t have my camera with me that day. 
I had never seen an owl, either, until a few years ago. I found a very small one stunned after flying into a car. The bird sanctuary told me the area was full of them and that this one was a screech owl. I looked them up on the net and listened to a recording of their call, which was nothing like a “whoo,” but more like a chitter.
The next evening while out walking at dusk, I heard that chittering coming from every clump of trees I passed. There were little owls lined up on fences, tree branches, and even a second-story porch railing.
That was nothing compared to what I encountered in the park later. There were larger owls perched on branches before gliding over the lake and skimming the water. There were screech owls exiting holes halfway up tall trees. One would come out and fly a short distance away, then perch on a branch. When it flew to a fence, a second owl would follow and land on the branch. When the first flew to another tree and the second flew to the fence, a third owl would come out and follow. Six came out of one hole and followed the leader until all were lined up on the back of a park bench, then they began taking off on low-level runs over the grass.
I had never seen a bat outside of a zoo, either. Walking down a street lined with large oak trees one evening, I thought something was wrong with my eyes, like I was seeing floaters. There was something there, but I couldn’t focus on it. Then I realized I was seeing bats. I was surrounded by hundreds of bats, like walking through a school of fish. They filled the entire area over the road and between the trees, all the way to the tree tops. None of them came within 3 feet of me–they just veered away. Hearing so many chirping at once, I realized I had heard bats before.
Now that I know what to look for, I see owls and bats everywhere. I look for silhouettes against the sky or against a lighter background, and for bats I listen for the chirps. There are so many bats where I work that we could make a fortune giving bat tours.
One thing I have noticed is that most people absolutely do not see either the owls or the bats. It’s as though they’re not attuned to them. Even when I point them out, they can’t see them. They’re there, and there are a lot of them, but it’s almost as though they’re part of a different dimension. Thousands of bats roost under the roof tiles where I work. Even when they exit at dusk–in a steady stream–few people see them.