An owl perched on a branch, within a tangle of branches. The owl's body is turned slightly right of the camera, while the head is turned slightly to the left. The owl's breast and belly are white with brown streaks. The shoulders and head are brown with white dots. The beak, which is small and tucked in, is yellow. The visible eye is yellow with a large black pupil. The in-focus branches are gray, but with small splotches of yellow lichen.
A Northern pygmy-owl in Cienega Canyon, in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on April 20, 2026. In the words of the birder who pointed it out to me, it's the size "of a Coke can."
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