Elf Owl sounds: song and calls

An Elf Owl sounds like a puppy yapping in the desert at night: short bursts of five to seven high, sharp notes, whi-whi-whi-whi-whi, rising a little in the middle and then falling, plus chuckles and a high whinny. It is surprisingly loud for the world's smallest owl, and on moonlit spring nights the yips echo through saguaro groves and desert canyons in southern Arizona and nearby states. It calls most in the early evening and just before dawn, and spends the winter in Mexico.

What the song sounds like

The male's song is a quick run of high-pitched yips, written whi-whi-whi-whi-whi, usually five to seven notes in a short burst and then a pause before the next. Audubon describes the notes as rising slightly in the middle of the series, and the effect has often been compared to a young puppy. It is a thin, excited sound, closer to yapping than to hooting, and it carries well: the calls of a bird barely five inches long can ring across a cactus flat.

Males have the bigger repertoire. Early in the breeding season they sing loudly and persistently to claim territory, with phrases that can run from five to twenty notes, and the details shift with wind, rain, moonlight and temperature. Once a male has a candidate nest hole, he sings a shorter version from inside it to lure a female in, and he may give a rolling CHU-ur-ur-ur as he flies out of the cavity he has been showing her. Pairs sometimes duet, the female's part softer and shorter.

The other calls: chuckles, peeps and a scold

Between songs come chuckles and a high whinny, especially at dusk and before dawn. The female gives a short peeu that helps the male find her in the dark. Both sexes scold intruders with a sharp cheeur, often repeated, and hungry nestlings make a monotonous rasping call from the nest hole. Audubon's list of call types adds chatters, chips, trills and whistles, so not every sound from a saguaro at night will be the classic yip.

When and where you hear it

North of the Mexican border, Elf Owls are summer residents only. They leave for Mexico in winter, when cold weather makes insects scarce, and return in spring; males start calling for mates around April. The best listening is on a calm, moonlit night in late spring, when calling can go on almost all night. Even on darker nights, the busiest times are the first hours after sunset and the last before dawn, since the owls hunt only at dusk and after dark.

In the United States they breed in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California, but they are most common in southern Arizona. Look and listen in deserts with tall saguaros or big mesquites, and in foothill canyons with sycamores and large oaks. They have become scarce along the lower Colorado River and in southern Texas, probably because of habitat loss. In Arizona, a moonlit spring evening beside a saguaro stand is when Warble has its best chance to hear one.

The saguaro connection is all about real estate. Elf Owls cannot dig, so they depend entirely on holes made by woodpeckers. In saguaros, most of those cavities come from Gila Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, while Acorn Woodpeckers supply most in woodlands. Nests in saguaros are usually 10 to 30 feet up, and nests in cacti are hard for mammals to reach: about 70 percent of eggs produce fledged young, the highest success reported for any North American owl.

What it looks like

A sparrow-sized owl, about five inches long and weighing around an ounce and a half, usually called the smallest owl in the world, though a couple of tropical owls come close in length. It is grayish brown with blurry streaks below, thin white eyebrows, pale yellow eyes and no ear tufts, plus a white line along the shoulder. In flight it looks a little like a bat.

Elf Owls eat almost nothing but insects and other arthropods: moths, beetles, crickets and katydids, plus spiders, centipedes and scorpions, which they kill and de-sting before eating. They hover among leaves to flush insects, catch moths in midair and sometimes work the bugs around campfires and outdoor lights. Handled by a predator, an Elf Owl may play dead, which can make the attacker loosen its grip.

Birds that sound similar

• 
  Western Screech-Owl

  The Western Screech-Owl gives a run of toots on one pitch that speeds up toward the end, like a dropped ping-pong ball bouncing to rest. The Elf Owl's yips are higher and yappier, come in short bursts, and peak in pitch mid-series.

• 
  Eastern Screech-Owl

  An Eastern Screech-Owl's whinny is a descending trill of quick toots, like a tiny horse. The Elf Owl's version is sharper and more like a yapping puppy, with notes that rise slightly before they fall.

Where the Elf Owl card lives

The Elf Owl is not in the top 100 of any single state album, so it lives in the national album of all 800 birds, where it counts as rare. Catching one anywhere in the country adds it there.

Questions people ask

Written by the Warble team from the sources above. Updated October 14, 2026.