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World Owl Trust - leading the World in Owl Conservation
Friday March 12th, 2010


Tengmalm’s Owl
Aegolius funereus
Click on small image to view larger one   Aegolius funereus
As of February 2005.
Description Small greyish (grayish) brown owl, with brown upperparts spotted with white, white under-parts broadly streaked with brown. Large, prominent, whitish facial disk with a dark border and white, raised eyebrows. Eyes yellow.
Size 20-25cm, 90-195g
Range Range consistent with the Northern Holartic coniferous belt, with other populations in C & E Europe, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Tien Shan and Himalayas.
Habitat Mainly old growth coniferous forest and mountainous regions.
Food Primarily rodents and other small mammals and occasionally birds.
Breeding Breeds from March-July, nesting mainly in large woodpecker holes. 3-6 eggs (much more in good prey years) are incubated for 29 days. The young fledge by about 5 weeks and are independent within another 6 weeks.
Call Series of 6-8, trill, staccato “poops” increasing in volume.
Status Not globally threatened, but generally uncommon or rare.
Comments This bird is named after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm.
Races The race sibericus is sometimes included in pallens.
A.f.funereus Locally in Europe - Scandinavia, Pyrenees, Alps east to Urals
A.f.magnus NE Siberia from Kolyma to Kamchatka
A.f.pallens From Caspian across S Siberia to N Mongolia
A.f.sibiricus C Siberia to Sakhalin and NE China
A.f.beickianus N Kansu in C China
A.f.caucasicus Caucasus and Crimea
A.f.richardsoni N North America

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