Pocket-Size Owl Appears in Peru

It has been more than 30 years since conservationists in Peru first caught a long-whiskered owlet in their nighttime bird nets, introducing to the birding world one of the smallest, and cutest, owls on the planet. Since then, just a handful of the wide-eyed, wispy-browed mini-owls have been trapped by researchers working in that country's mountainous frontier, and none had been seen flying in the wild -- until now. In February, the intensely private and presumably threatened bird got over its shyness and made multiple appearances before birders working to preserve its remote habitat, which is among the richest areas of avian biodiversity in the world. Birders hope that the owlet's recent appearances will bolster efforts to expand a recently created 4,000-acre private sanctuary there, which is home to hundreds of rare and endangered bird species.Researchers with the Asociaci?n Ecosistemas Andinos and the American Bird Conservancy, who are leading conservation efforts there, believe there are fewer than 1,000 of the owls, and perhaps as few as 250. With the help of foundation grants, the organizations have been buying tracts of land in a wooded region that abuts a much larger government preserve. Last month, rangers spotted the owlet three times during daylight hours and recorded its calls. They also took the first pictures of the bird in the wild.