Bird

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Aegolius acadicus

A winter visitor to Alabama, found in all 67 counties and 10 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 10

Adult Northern Saw-whet Owl, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Troy B, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 182283589. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 10
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 10

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 10

WinterSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art), a neighboring state.The Great Florida Marsh, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianWinslow Homer, Blue Spring, Florida (1890): clear blue spring water under overhanging palms. Shown: Blue Spring, Florida (Winslow Homer, 1890; National Gallery of Art), a neighboring state.Blue Spring, Florida, Winslow Homer, 1890. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Swamp SystemsFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha (1899): a dark swamp-lined river at sunset, with cypress and hardwoods crowding both banks. Shown: Ocklawaha River, Florida, a neighboring state.Florida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha, Detroit Photographic Co. (chromolithograph), 1899. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Winter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerWinterAllegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

WinterSouth-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

WinterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Other habitats in its models (45)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (19)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Summer and winter.
Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Summer and winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Winter.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer and winter.
Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.

Northeast (5)

Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Winter.
Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer and winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter.

Midwest (4)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Winter.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Winter.

Land cover and other classes (17)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Winter.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer and winter.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

Winter: does not nest here, in all 67 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.