Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for January–March 2026
Northern Saw-whet Owls – Small but Demanding Our Attention
by Chris Kelly, Western Bird and Carolina Northern Flying Squirrel Biologist
D espite their diminutive size (about the size of a robin but more compact), Northern Saw-whet Owls commanded our attention in the first quarter of 2026. NCWRC and partners have kicked off two separate but complementary projects to address knowledge gaps for this owl of the highest mountains. Building on pilot survey data, Uni- versity of Kentucky Master’s student Maggie Abell is leading a study to develop standardized bioacoustics survey protocols and a statistically robust, long-term monitoring plan for NCWRC biologists. In early March, the owl team deployed 100 autonomous recording units (ARUs) across 4 massifs: Grandfather Mountain, Roan Moun- tain, the Black Mountains, and the Great Balsams, stratifying them by elevation and forest type. The SongMeter Micro ARUs record at inter- vals after dark, listening for far longer at that location than a biologist conducting a single point count at night. Also this winter, Clayton Gibb, a Western Carolina University Mas- ter’s student, began scouting the mountains for saw-whets in prepara- tion for a tagging project through Wild Bird Research Group . Gibb’s study aims to learn more about post-breeding movement patterns and important habitats and habitat features such as roost sites, nest sites, and foraging locations. Some owls will be fitted with coded VHF trans- mitters (nanotags) programmed to run for over a year. These individ- uals can be tracked on the ground with handheld receivers and can also be picked up on the Motus Wildlife Tracking Network. In fact, Gibb’s project is part of a Competitive State Wildlife Grant to build-out the Motus network in the Southeastern US. These loca- tion data can provide insight on local and migratory movements. A smaller number of owls will be fitted with GPS-Argos tags to obtain precise location fixes at regular intervals over the course of a year that can be downloaded remotely via Argos satellite. These location data can generate maps of annual movements and answer questions about site fidelity. NCWRC biologists anticipate the two studies informing each other, particularly the movement and habitat data influencing future ARU deployment strategy.
CHRIS KELLY/NCWRC
SongMeter Micro ARU deployed in a Fraser fir stand.
CLAYTON GIBB/ WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
Northern Saw-whet Owl in hand. They are described as being small enough to fit in a coffee cup. Not that we’ve tried.
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