Since 1997, the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art has been a leader in the effort to learn more about the northern saw-whet owl, the East's smallest owl and one of its most charming wild animals.
(Photo:Jim Funck)
Each autumn, the center's team of trained researchers and volunteers harmlessly catch, band and release hundreds of these tiny raptors at three banding stations in central Pennsylvania, luring them into nearly invisible mist nets by playing a recording of the owl's weird, tooting call. The center also plays a key role in coordinating an informal network of more than 120 owl banding stations across North America.
In the process, they've helped map the movements of a species so secretive that most avid birders have never glimpsed one – an owl that was, until recently, considered quite rare.
On this site you can learn more about these enigmatic birds, about the center's on-going research project, how to become a research volunteer, and how you can support the center's work by adopting an owl yourself.
You can also subscribe to our new podcast, and read a blog by project coordinator Scott Weidensaul, both updated regularly during the fall and winter research season.
Watch some exciting videos about owl banding by clicking here!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The Ned Smith Center needs your help in finding housing for its
three-person owl research staff, from approximately Sept. 21 through
Dec. 18, 2009.
The housing needs to sleep three, with kitchen facilities and
phone/Internet capabilities, and be somewhere reasonably close to the
research site at King's Gap State Park/Michaux State Forest on South
Mountain south of Carlisle; this means roughly from Mechanicsburg to
Shippensburg.
The crew, consisting of a research technician and two interns, will
be conducting all-night radio-tracking four nights a week, and needs
to have a place where they can sleep during the day with a minimum of
disturbance.
Please contact research coordinator Scott Weidensaul at
, or 570-739-2874, if you have any
suggestions.
10AM-4PM Tuesday to Saturday, 12PM-4PM Sunday- info here
Saw-Whet Owl Program 
