26 NEBRASKAland • JULY 2015
a depression in the sawdust covered
floor of the nest box in a ponderosa
pine tree in the Wildcat Hills Wildlife
Management Area south of Gering. A
month later, he returned to find five
warm eggs at the box which, in the
dark of night, he mistakenly figured
were those of a screech-owl. On May
10, however, he was surprised and
elated when he approached the same
box and saw a northern saw-whet owl
peering down at him. In the box, he
found four owlets about two weeks
old and an unhatched egg – the first
documented saw-whet owl nest in
Nebraska.
Mollhoff returned to the
nest several times that spring,
documenting the chicks'
development. Considering that the
first two seasons were unsuccessful
in the search for saw-whets, Mollhoff
wasn't sure what to expect when
making rounds at nest boxes in 2015.
Would it be one-and-done or would
he once again be looking saw-whets
in the eye?
The answer came early as he was
checking a box in Dawes County on
Feb. 12. It was holding the state's
second documented saw-whet nest,
confirming suspicions that the Pine
Ridge provided suitable nesting
habitat. The eggs, which were
laid and hatched extremely early
in the season compared to those
documented in other states, were
in a box on an ash tree along West
Ash Creek in the Nebraska National
Forest. Six owlets hatched and
fledged from that nest.
And the other boxes? Much to his
delight, Mollhoff discovered April
2 that saw-whets had returned to
the same box as the first nest in the
Wildcat Hills. Seven eggs, generally
considered to be the most a female
will produce, were laid at that site.
Mollhoff recruited Jerry Toll
of Omaha, who has extensive
experience banding saw-whets, to
place leg bands on the chicks at West
Ash Creek and the Wildcat Hills
Mollhoff climbs a ponderosa pine at the
Wildcat Hills Wildlife Management Area.
The box was placed about 25 feet from
the ground, a height which research
shows is within preferred nesting range
for the species.
