Collared Owlet

Glaucidium brodiei

Photo by Biju.P.B
Yotong La, Bhutan, April, 2015

Identification

15–17 cm (6-6¾ in) - Smallest Asian owl

• Large round head
• Rufous brown or grey body
• Dark brown bars on back, wings, tail, sides of upper breast
• White lower breast and belly
• Dark brown spots on sides
• Creamy-buff spots on head
• White throat with a brown bar
• Buff collar
• Two orange and black eye spots on back of neck

Distribution

Asia: found in Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Taiwan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malay Peninsula, Brunei, Borneo, Indonesia, Greater Sundas and Sumatra.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• G. b. brodiei:

• Pakistan to southern China, south-eastern Tibet, northern Indochina and Malay Peninsula

• G. b. pardalotum:

• Taiwan

• G. b. peritum:

• Sumatra

• G. b. borneense:

• Borneo

Two additional subspecies garoense and sylvaticum are not generally recognised^[2].

Habitat

Evergreen montane forests.

Behaviour

Most active at dusk and night.

Diet

The diet includes small birds, rodents, large insects and lizards.

Breeding

It nests in a tree cavity. 4 white eggs are laid and both parents feed the young.

Vocalisation

Recording by Alok Tewari
Recorded early morning
Sat Tal Forest, Alt. 5500 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 19 October 2018.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

• 

  Photo by China guy
  Qingcheng mountains, China]]

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Lepage D. (2021) [Avibase - https://avibase.ca/8BB833BB]. Retrieved 23 January 2021
3. Wikipedia
4. Birding in Taiwan

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Collared Owlet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Collared_Owlet

External Links

Search for photos of Collared Owlet in the gallery