Full grown Saw-Whet owl, snoozing in the woods, Delta BC.
European explorers first discovered this Owl in a North American colony called Acadia (now Nova Scotia). The Latinised word "acadius" refers to this territory. The common name "Saw-whet" comes from these Owls unique calls.
The Northern Saw-whet Owl is a very small, short-bodied, Owl with a relatively short tail. The overly large head has no ear tufts and may appear distorted due to an asymmetrical skull. They look small when perched and tend to shuffle their feet, but in flight appear larger because of their broad wings.
The facial disk has brownish and whitish radials around the edge, which fade to a whitish area around the eyes. There is also a dark area from the base of the bill to the bottom inside edge of each eye. The rest of the head is brownish to grey-brown and densely covered with white streaks, especially on the forehead.