Researchers track new owl in state

A type of small owl rarely seen in Arkansas but common in other states has been discovered near Huntsville.

A northern saw-whet owl was captured at Ozark Natural Science Center by Kimberly Smith, a biological sciences professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and undergraduate student Mitchell Pruitt, the university announced Wednesday.

The bird was captured using a fine-gauge, black nylon net in November, with the researchers attracting the bird by playing a recording of its call. Two weeks after finding the bird, which was banded and released to track its migratory pattern, the researchers captured another northern saw-whet owl.

The birds typically live in the northern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. The first captured bird, an adult female, weighed 3 ounces and had a closed wing length of 5.6 inches.

"The fact that we were able to capture two birds in the same place within two weeks of each other is really incredible, given that this owl has only been seen in Arkansas about a dozen times in the last 55 years," Smith said in a statement. "Even more unbelievable is that we have had three owls respond to our tape recording at the Science Center, suggesting that this owl might be much more common in Arkansas than previously thought."

Metro on 01/29/2015

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