Rare Owl Could Make Danish Bird Enthusiasts Weep

A rare visitor has captivated Danish birdwatchers: a Eurasian pygmy owl was registered near Græsted Church in North Zealand early Monday morning. This sighting is particularly significant, marking only the seventh time the species has been officially recorded in Denmark since 1910.

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It's huge. We are very excited.

"It's huge. We are very excited," said Rasmus Strack, a member of the Danish Ornithological Society's Rare Birds Committee, to TV 2 Kosmopol. The last confirmed sighting was in 2003, in Jutland. The committee's role is to verify sightings of extremely rare birds through documentation such as observer descriptions, photos, or recordings.

Strack anticipates that up to 200 bird enthusiasts will travel to Græsted on Monday evening, eager to catch a glimpse of the owl. The bird is known to become vocal after sunset, and any sound it makes is expected to elicit cheers, with Strack suggesting that even grown adults might shed tears of joy.

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If there is sound, there will be great jubilation, and one might even see grown adults 'cry a little with joy'.

The Eurasian pygmy owl measures up to 20 centimeters in length with a wingspan of up to 54 centimeters. Strack speculates that the bird may have become disoriented during its spring migration, straying too far north. "It's probably a slightly crazy bird that has gone too far north," he told the media.

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It's probably a slightly crazy bird that has gone too far north.