This is a close up photo I took on February 17th, 2014 at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY of a Northern Saw-Whet Owl.

Habitat Description: This owl was in captivity because it suffered damage to one of its wings and it made it unsuitable to be able to properly hunt in the wild and survive. The owl is in captivity at the Wild Center and was in a cage.

Natural History: The Northern Saw-Whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) is native to North America. The Northern Saw-Whet Owl is a nocturnal hunter and like all owls prefers to hunt alone. They feed mainly on small rodents such as mice and swallow their prey whole because they do not have teeth to chew their food. An interesting fact about owls is that they cannot move their eyes, so in order to see owls must rotate their heads. Likewise, owls have adapted their eyes in order to give them incredible depth perception. An interesting fact that is unique to the Northern Saw-Whet Owl is that they are the one of the smallest owl species in North America, averaging a height of 17-22 cm, a wingspan of 42-56 cm, and have a very low average weight of 80 g.

What drew me to this photo was the unique look and lighting of this photo. The owl in this photo stared very deep into my eyes, and it seemed very somber as it was in captivity and could no longer survive in the wild. The lighting in this photo was also appealing because it really brought out the colors of the owls feathers.