Saswat Mishra
Did you know?
- A man named Richard Meinertzhagen stole a museum specimen of the Forest Owlet, re-stuffed it, and pretended to have been the one who found the owl! He lied about where he had "found" it too. When real scientists went to this area, they were unable to find any of these owls and feared the worst - that they were no more. Because of this man's deception, scientists were thrown off the trail of this owl for more than 100 years.
- The Forest Owlet was considered to be extinct, until scientists rediscovered it in 1997!
- The Forest Owlet is also known as the Forest Spotted Owlet
How The Peregrine Fund is helping
Though The Peregrine Fund doesn't work directly with Forest Owlets, our efforts in scientific research, habitat conservation, education, and community development help conserve birds of prey around the world. We also supply literature to researchers from our avian research library, which helps scientists around the world gather and share important information on raptor conservation.
Where they live
Like the Ridgway's Hawk or the Galapagos Hawk, the Forest Owlet is an endemic species, meaning it is found in only one, relatively small region. In the case of the Forest Owlet, its home is restricted to a very small range within central India. True to its name, the Forest Owlet lives in forests, most commonly in dry tropical deciduous forests, usually mixed with a grassy understory, to be exact! And it seems to show a preference for areas where a type of tree called teak (Tectona grandis) outnumbers all the other tree species. In 2015, researchers discovered a pair of Forest Owlets in a moist, deciduous forest, also dominated by teak, in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary near Mumbai, India.
This small owl has not been documented at higher elevation forests, and has only been found at between 400 to 500 meters above sea level.
What they do
The Forest Owlet is a small owl that somewhat resembles a pygmy owl. Not only is it super adorable, just like pygmy owls, but it also shares some behavioral traits with this lovely group of raptors. For example, scientists observed the Forest Owlet flicking its tail - something most pygmy owls do too - when they are alarmed or when something is frightening them.
The Forest Owlet has a dark brown head sprinkled with faint white spots. It has bright yellow eyes and a yellow beak. Its wings are brown and painted with white mottling and its tail is dark brown with white bands. Its facial disc is composed of feathers slightly lighter in color. But wait... right about now, you might be asking yourself, what exactly is a facial disc. A facial disk is a group of feathers that form a circle around the bird’s face. The disk can be lifted or lowered at will. When the feathers of the facial disk are raised, they help direct sounds to the birds’ ears, which are located on the sides of its head. To find out how this works, cup your hands behind your ears and listen. Do you notice that whatever you are listening to seems louder? Pretty neat, right?
Getting back to Forest Owlet behavior, researchers are continuing to learn more and more about this species. Some biologists observed this owl using feeding perches that are relatively close to the ground and in smaller trees. As you may have guessed, "feeding perches" are branches or snags, where the owl brings its prey in order to eat it.
Though this owl usually feeds from low perches, when it is roosting or vocalizing, it often perches higher up in large trees, often near the top. Speaking of vocalizations, the Forest Owlet has quite a repertoire of sounds. These include hissing calls, which may last only 2-3 seconds at a time, melodic songs which are unlike the typical hoots or whistles of some other small owls, and ca call which researchers describe as a "kwaak" sound, which they believe helps these owls make others aware of just where their territories are.
In hotter months, this owl tries to get out of the full sun whenever possible. How does it do that? It perches in shady areas or, if it finds itself in a tree with little or no leaves, it huddles close to the tree trunk as much as possible. On cloudy or cooler days the Forest Owlet more often can be seen perching in the open. Of course, when it is very cold outside, it enjoys staying warm like the rest of us and will perch in full sun for a few hours at a time.
Why they need our help
Since the Forest Owlet was rediscovered in 1997, scientists have actually been able to locate a few other areas where this owl lives. As a result, the species' status has been revised and it is now considered Endangered, rather than Critically Endangered. However, though this is good news, it doesn't mean the populations of Forest Owlets are out of danger. In fact, it seems that their populations are actually in decline - mostly due to human actions such as logging of their forest habitat and even hunting.
Because the Forest Owlet's range is very limited, it is at an even greater risk.
What they eat
The Forest Owlet is a voracious and skilled hunter, taking a wide variety of prey. Using a "sit and wait" approach - meaning it hangs out on a low perch waiting for prey to unwittingly pass by before it pounces - this owl might snatch up a grasshopper from the grass with its beak or with its talons. It might use its talons to catch a frog sunning innocently on a branch. Though skinks and other lizards make up the majority of the Forest Owlet's diet, it also feeds on birds, mice and other rodents, amphibians and even caterpillars.
Scientists have observed the Forest Owlet caching its food. What does this mean? Usually in times of high prey abundance, an owl can catch more food than it can eat right in the moment. So, just like we store left-overs in the refrigerator, the Forest Owlet stores food usually in small cavities in trees or other shady, well-hidden areas, to be eaten later.
Nests, eggs and young
When nesting season approaches, the male and female Forest Owlet will engage in what is known as courtship behavior. But don't expect to see them exchanging a box of chocolate and flowers. The courtship of the Forest Owlet can involve vocalizations, prey exchanges, and preening ??.
The Forest Owlet female will lay up from ? to ? eggs inside a tree cavity. She does most of the incubating while the male is responsible for bringing her food. Of course, once the nestling owls hatch - the male must work even harder to bring them food as well. As has been observed in many raptor species, when it is time to feed the young, the female will rip off tiny pieces of prey and pass them - beak to beak - to the hungry nestlings. The Forest Owlet female also feeds her young in this way.
After about one month, the nestlings will be ready to fledge, or fly for the first time. However, they still are dependent on their parents to provide them with food and to keep them safe for another 40 days or more! Even though the female takes care of the nestlings while they are young, once they are older and out of the nest, the male will begin taking more responsibility in the care of his offspring. This is similar to what has been seen in Ornate Hawk-eagles - a large diurnal raptor found in Central and South America.
At one nest in India, biologists observed a male Forest Owlet feeding on one nestling and, shortly thereafter, they observed a male chasing a second juvenile. They later found the remains of this juvenile, indicating it had been eaten by the adult male. Researchers are unsure whether the adult male was the father of the two young, of if he was another male trying to mate with the adult female.
Forest Owlet and the World Center for Birds of Prey
The World Center for Birds of Prey offers fun ways to learn about birds of prey. Interactive activities, tours, interesting videos and a children's room with activities from coloring sheets to quizzes to costumes are all available for our visitors. Several owl species are included among the ambassador birds at the visitor center, providing visitors with a wonderful opportunity to see owls up close and learn about the wonderful and interesting adaptations they have in order to survive in their respective habitats. There is also a touch table with owl feathers and other natural objects available for exploration.
Resources:
BirdLife International. 2017. Heteroglaux blewitti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22689335A119402253. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22689335A119402253.en. Downloaded on 02 January 2018.
Dalvi, S. Forest Owlet, Tansa, Maharashtra. 2015. Conservation India Newsletter. Ishtiaq F, Rahmani AR (2000). "Cronism in the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti" (PDF). Forktail. 16: 172–174. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-08-28.
Laad, S.; Dagale, R. 2014. First report of forest owlet Heteroglaux blewitti from Tansa wildlife sanctuary (Western Ghats), Maharashtra, India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 111(2): 134.
Mehta, P. The Enigma of the Forest Owlet. 2017. Conservation India Newsletter.
Newton, I., R. Kavanagh, J. Olsen, and I. Taylor. Eds. Ecology and Conservation of Owls. Csiro Publishing, 2002. pp 80-88.
Rasmussen, PC; Ishtiaq, F. (1999). "Vocalizations and Behaviour of Forest Spotted Owlet Athene blewitti. Forktail. 15: 61–66.
