Photo by Seb Nadeau
While we’re probably all familiar with the crazy defensive stances of White Faced Scops or the puffed up turkey look of the Great Horned Owl, I’d never seen the Pygmy Owl do any shape shifting before. It looks so different than the normal snowman shape it normally has that I thought it was fake!
I was able to verify it though from this post from Owl Pages, which has been a reliable source for me.
An interesting note,while Pygmy Owls do not have true ear-tufts like someother species, they are able to extend their browfeathers to the side when threatened or alarmed.
Normal shape for reference.
It intimidates by extending its eyebrows?! That’s magnificent. I am suitably intimidated, my adorable little friend.
Indeed! Eyebrows have always been considered one of the most intimidating body parts. See The Rock or The Monarch, for example!
Cockpits! Booby traps!
I will forever miss the Ventures! It gave me something to look forward to every 5 years or so.
It’s so fluffy!
Very snowman shaped.
That pic makes it look about the size of a humming bird.
They are small in stature, but big in heart! 😍
\m/
It’s going to have to “defensive posture” in a different way, because I am completely unafraid, and probably even more likely to say hi lol
Woah, hey now, easy buddy. Nobody’s encroaching on nobody okay? We’re just gonna back up the way we came . . .
“Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!”
It’s so adorably menacing!! 🥰👿
