Boreal Owl

Overview
Boreal Owl: Medium owl, white-spotted, brown upperparts and thick brown-streaked, white underparts. Head is black with numerous small white spots, facial disks bordered with black, eyes are yellow-orange. Short flights have rapid wingbeats, longer ones are bouyant with shallow, silent wing beats.

Range and Habitat
Boreal Owl: Occurs in most of northern Canada and the Rocky mountains down to New Mexico. Preferred habitats include old-growth forests with woodpecker cavities for nesting.

The Boreal Owl has a large range, estimated globally at 10,000,000 square kilometers. It is primarily found in North America, Europe and Asia. It is a terrestrial bird that lives in forest habitats that are boreal, subarctic, or temperate. The bird has an estimated global population of 220,000 individuals. There is evidence of changes in population, but not in a manner that approaches the thresholds for population decline that would necessitate its inclusion to the IUCN Red List. Because of current population trends, the Boreal Owl currently has an evaluation level of Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Boreal Owl is also known as Tengmalm's Owl, after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm. They are considered monogamous, though studies in Europe found that one male may mate with up to three females, and a female occasionally mates with two different males. This occurred most frequently when mice numbers were high. This owl was featured in the film 'Out of Africa' as Karen Blixen's pet, although it is not native to Africa and was not the species of owl the real Karen Blixen kept. A group of owls has many collective nouns, including a "bazaar", "glaring", "parliament", "stooping", and "wisdom" of owls.