Genus Xenoglaux

Long-whiskered Owlet - The Long-whiskered Owlet is mainly brown with a whitish belly and eye brow. The large eyes are orange-brown. Although it has no ear tufts, this small owl's facial feathers extend out past its head, making it appear to have long tufts. The name of its monotypic genus Xenoglaux means "strange owl" and – among others – refers to these long facial feathers. With a total length of 13-14 cm , it is among the smallest owls in the world. The Long-whiskered Owlet is one of the rarest birds in the world. It was filmed and photographed in January 2010 by researchers at La Esperanza, Peru. Fewer than 15 people have ever seen this bird in the wild. To see the video taken by the researchers visit: http://neoprimate.org/news/lang/en/. Several birds were spotted in an area only a few miles west of the Abra Patricia Reserve where the bird was seen in 2008. The reserve was created with funding from American Bird Conservancy and is owned and managed by ABC’s Peruvian conservation partner ECOAN. With help from ABC and ECOAN abou