---
title: "Cactusuil"
description: "Micrathene whitneyi — Vogels. The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/elf-owl
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Cactusuil

> Micrathene whitneyi — Vogels. The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula.

- Scientific name: *Micrathene whitneyi*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `desert` (Woestijn)
- iNaturalist observations: 1181
- Wikidata: [Q926291](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q926291)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20379](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20379)

## Names

- en: Elf Owl
- de: Elfenkauz
- es: Tecolote enano
- fr: Chevêchette des saguaros
- nl: Cactusuil
- pt: Mocho-duende
- pl: Kaktusówka

## Countries with the most observations

US (784), MX (321)

## Summary

The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula. It has pale yellow eyes highlighted by thin white "eyebrows" and a gray bill with a horn-colored tip. The elf owl frequently inhabits woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti; it also nests in natural tree cavities. It is nocturnal and feeds primarily on insects.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_owl

## Photo

![Cactusuil](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/elf-owl/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dario Taraborelli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/379281466

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/elf-owl?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).