The ferruginous pygmy-owl is a small, 6.5 to 7.0 inch long owl with a long rufous colored tail accented by dark barring. The front view of the head is characterized as smooth and lacking ear tufts while the back of the head has a pair of conspicuous black 'eye spots' outlined in white. The primary pygmy-owl vocalization detected by survey workers during formal surveys was a single pitch 'whistle-like' repeated note uttered by suspected territorial males. Calling sequences were composed of one or two notes and up to 98 without a pause.

Text (c) Pima County, image (c) Center for Bio. Diveristy