Spotted Owlet

Athene brama

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesUrbanCavity nestMedium · 112 g

What the Spotted Owlet sounds like

Sonogram of the Spotted Owlet: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Ujjal Kishor De · Call, nocturnal flight call · Unakoti (near Kumarghat), Tripura, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spotted Owlet: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sudipto Roy · Call · Kankrajhore, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Spotted Owlet

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Spotted Owlet

Regular range

The map shades 11 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Spotted Owlet

The spotted owlet is a small owl which breeds in tropical Asia from North Pakistan to Southeast Asia. A common resident of open habitats including farmland and human habitation, it has adapted to living in cities. They roost in small groups in the hollows of trees or in cavities in rocks and buildings. It nests in a hole in a tree or building, laying 3–5 eggs. The species shows great variation including clinal variation in size and forms a superspecies with the very similar little owl.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Burrowing Owl vs Spotted Owlet · Little Owl vs Spotted Owlet

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