Cornell Lab of Ornithology – Owls in Towels https://owlsintowels.org/ Thu, 24 Sep 2026 04:28:46 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.2 https://owlsintowels.org/content/media/tBNh7to.png Cornell Lab of Ornithology – Owls in Towels https://owlsintowels.org/ 32 32 Not Quite Owls in ‘Towels’ https://owlsintowels.org/not-quite-owls-in-towels/ https://owlsintowels.org/not-quite-owls-in-towels/#respond Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://owlsintowels.org/?p=4735 A Saw-Whet Owl is pouched in a cotton draw-string bag in the hands of a bander. She looks directly at camera with eyes yellow and wide: one eye lit from above-left, the other occluded in shadow. Feathers are muted brown with streaks of cream-white radiating from the eyes. The pouch is white with light blue stripes like the Uruguayan flag (1828-1830). In the background atop a wooden desk and out of focus is a chart with bars of yellow - likely for registering the hue of each banded owl's eyes as part of the migration research.

Original post: 09 Oct 2019
by Cornell Lab of Ornithology / All About Birds

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Original caption text:

A saw-whet is ready for a quick exam when researchers will collect data and affix an identifying leg band.

The tiny owls are wrapped up in cloth bags to keep them calm until it’s time for researchers to conduct a brief examination.

Three identical pouches are strung from a horizontal cord, affixed with wooden clothes pegs like garments on a washing line. The pouches, I think it's safe to assume, are laden with one Saw-Whet Owl each. Some trust has been placed in the springs of the pegs, given that these little goobers typically weigh around 80 grams or 2.8 ounces. For reference that's the weight of a very small banana, or a hefty lemon, but those things rarely try to escape once put in a bag.

The full story A Grassroots Banding Project Reveals How Amazing Northern Saw-whet Owls Are by Scott Weidensaul is worth a read πŸ™‚

Link to donate to Cornell Lab of Ornithology for those willing and able.

xo owlsintowels

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SpeciesCommon NameMore info
Aegolius acadicusNorthern Saw-whet OwlWiki link
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