Dutch Birding volume 30 (2008) no 2

Eurasian Pygmy Owls near Bakkeveen in December 2005 and near Valkenswaard in February 2008

In the afternoon of 10 December 2005, a Eurasian Pygmy Owl Glaucidium passerinum was observed by a single observer in a mixed forest near Bakkeveen, Friesland, the Netherlands. The bird reacted to an imitation of the call and was observed down to a few metres. It was identified by the combination of very small size (comparable with Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris), face pattern, brown upperside with white spots, pale underparts, strongly streaked brown, brown undertail with broad white bands, pale yellow bill, yellow eyes and absence of ear-tufts. The flight was undulating and, when perched, the bird made circular tail movements. The next day, a group of almost 400 birders searched in vain and this bird was not seen again.
In the afternoon of 10 February 2008, two birders discovered an individual at Leenderbos near Valkenswaard, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Just before dark, the bird was relocated and seen by c 40 birders. The next day, it was still present and seen by a few 100 birders. The confiding bird could be observed and photographed from short distances, near a clearing in mixed forest. It was easily identified by the combination of small size, plumage details, including ‘false eyes’ on the back of the head, and behaviour. At least twice, it caught a vole, storing it in small tree holes. On 11 February, c 15 pellets were produced and collected by birders.
The bird at Bakkeveen has been accepted by the Dutch rarities committee (CDNA) as the second Eurasian Pygmy Owl for the Netherlands. The bird at Valkenswaard represents the third (if accepted). The first record concerned a bird picked up alive after colliding with a window and released at Sumarreheide, Friesland, on 4 October 2002 (only c 15 km from the site where the bird in December 2005 was seen). Because there were no apparent invasions into southern Scandinavia during these years, the records most probably relate to young birds wandering from the spreading and increasing German population. The only recent invasion in Scandinavia – with three birds reaching northern Denmark – was in autumn 2003.

Koert Scholten, Kleasterkamp 3, 9243 KP Bakkeveen, Nederland (kokoschoxs4all.nl)
Cor Kuipers, St Odilialaan 6, 3930 Achel, België (guzzilm3msn.com)
Joey Kuipers, St Odilialaan 6, 3930 Achel, België (joebikmsn.com)
Enno B Ebels, Joseph Haydnlaan 4, 3533 AE Utrecht, Nederland (ebelswxs.nl)