Birds of Mexico

○ ← STRIGIFORMES: Strigidae (Owls) →

Genus: Glaucidium (8 species, 29 worldwide)

Genus Glaucidium, Pygmy Owls, are tiny owls, around 15 cm., which can be active day or night. All Pygmy Owls are usually being mobbed by small birds and hummingbirds.


Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) Barquisimeto, Venezuela Brown morph.
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.


Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum medianum) Los Flamencos Wildlife Sanctuary, Camarones, La Guajira, Colombia Grey morph.
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.


Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) Costa Rica Rufous morph
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

With different shades of brown, rufous and grey across its large range.


Northern Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium californicum) Washington State, United States
Photograph by Mick Thompson/Eastside Audubon Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.


Guatemalan Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium cobanense) Honduras
Photograph by John van Dort © All Rights Reserved.

Split from Northern Pygmy Owl. Comes in rufous and brown morph.


Mountain Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) La Cumbre, Oaxaca, Mexico
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas) © All Rights Reserved.


Central American Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium griseiceps) Laguna Lagarto Lodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica Note brown-grey head color vs. other Pygmy Owls.
Photograph by Jorge Obando Gutierrez © Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.


Baja Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium hoskinsii) ENDEMIC San Antonio de la Sierra, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Photograph by Nigel Voaden © All Rights Reserved.

Split from Northern Pygmy Owl. A bit smaller.


Colima Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium palmarum) ENDEMIC Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas) © All Rights Reserved.


Colima Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium palmarum) ENDEMIC PN Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
Photograph by Matt Grube © All Rights Reserved.


Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium sanchezi) Near Threatened ENDEMIC El Cielo BR, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Photograph by Amy McAndrews Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba