Regarding Saw-whet Owls, Chris Hill wrote:

>...So it seems, based on limited looking, like there are
>quite a few Saw-whets "out there" in winter in W.
>Washington. <clip>... I haven't seen big numbers on
>W Washington counts <clip> ...are the low totals on local
>christmas counts due to low numbers of Saw-whets, or
>to people not looking? How often do you expect to find
>this species in winter around here?

One of my pet peeves is the standard statement in many birding books,
"Common in proper habitat", and with no other group of birds than owls is
this phrase more over-used. IMHO, owls are among the most difficult of
birds to find, and with a few exceptions I think they are generally much
less common than we are led to believe. I have spent many evenings looking
& calling for owls of various species, and I have seen nearly all of the
Washington species, but I have come to the following conclusions:

1. The vast majority of owl sightings are made by a very few birders. Try
pinning down a birder who you know is well experienced, and most will admit
that they have seen only a very few individuals of even the most "common"
species, such as Western Screech, Pygmy and Saw-Whet.

2. The vast majority of owl sightings are made in the same localities, by
the same people, year after year, particularly on Christmas bird counts. If
you know the best localities, you can find 'em; if you don't, you can't.
Access is important, too; Barn Owls are easy to find if you have access to
a barn where they stay, but most barns are on private property.

3. Serendipitous owl sightings are really pretty uncommon, save for obvious
species such as Short-eared and Great Horned Owls, and of course Burrowing
Owls "in the proper habitat". Random, or even carefully planned, scouting
trips are often fruitless unless you have some inside information.

In view of the above, I suggest that you were either very lucky or very
talented to find your two Saw-whets in an unknown location. Still, there
are birders, such as Gene Hunn and Richard Rowlett, who have both the talent
and hard-core dedication to routinely find owls in numbers. My hat is off
to them.

As far as Saw-whet Owls specifically are concerned, there are a few
locations where they seem to be found year after year. Some spots I know
about include Samish Island, the dike along the Skagit wildlife area on Fir
Island, and of course Reifel Refuge near Ladner, B.C..

Dave Nunnallee
dnun461 at ecy.wa.gov
Bellevue, WA