Meet The Tiniest Elf Owl In The World

Native to the American Southwest, Elf Owls are slightly larger than a soda can, but that doesn't stop them from being determined predators. The tiny elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) weighs less than a golf ball.

The Sonoran desert of southern Arizona is where you'll find those huge, iconic saguaro cacti, some as tall as 40 feet (12 meters). Giant saguaro serve as high-rise apartment buildings for elf owls (Micrathene whitneyi), the world's smallest, which make their homes in abandoned woodpecker nest cavities carved out of the cactus flesh. High off the ground and insulated by the saguaro's thick walls, elf owls and their young are relatively safe from predators and protected from extreme temperatures.