Burrowing Owl vs Spotted Owlet

Burrowing Owl

Athene cunicularia

Medium151 gGrassland

Burrowing owls have bright eyes; their beaks can be dark yellow or gray depending on the subspecies. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors, such as a bobbing of the head when agitated. Adults have brown heads and wings with white spotting. Their chests and abdomens are white with variable brown spotting or barring, also depending on the subspecies. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Pichard Olivier · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes from Goiânia, Brazil · CC BY 2.0

Spotted Owlet

Athene brama

Medium112 gUrban

The spotted owlet is a small and stocky bird, barely 21 cm (8.3 in) in size. The upperparts are grey-brown, heavily spotted with white. The underparts are white, streaked with brown. The facial disc is pale and the iris is yellow. There is a white neckband and supercilium. Sexes are similar. The flight is deeply undulating. The nominate form is darker than the paler forms such as indica of drier regions.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Ujjal Kishor De · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: white_cheeked_barbet · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Burrowing Owl and Spotted Owlet.