Boreal Owl

Aegolius funereus

Perhaps the most recorded bird species in the Pribilofs that has been seen by the fewest number of people in recent years, there are at least nine records of this species from the islands (all from St. Paul Island), with most of them from the 1900s and 1910s. The known records come from nearly the entire year in spring, summer, fall, and winter with late May and late winter (January-March) the only periods to have more than a single record and are probably the “best” times to see this species in the islands.

The Boreal Owl is often split between birds in the Old World and birds in the New World. The only known North American record of the Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus magnus), which is the Eurasian-breeding subspecies, is from St. Paul Island in 1911.

Photo by Gil Ewing
Photo by Darrell Lawson