While driving in the Eastern Range of Kaziranga NP in Assam, India my guide spotted a small owl in the cavity of a large tree branch. He called it a spotted owlet. I'd never heard the term "owlet" before. It is a term for a young owl, but also a name given to several small owls which I saw on this trip.
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| The owl in the cavity of a large tree branch. |
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| A progressively closer view. |
It is a small owl that breeds in tropical Asia from North Pakistan to Southeast Asia and has adapted to living in cities, although the one we saw was in the national park.
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| Spotted owlet range from Wikipedia. |
It is about 8.3 inches in height with gray/brown upperparts spotted in white. The underparts are white streaked with brown and it has a yellow iris, white neckband and white supercilium. There are five subspecies and we saw the subspecies in northeastern India.
Nice to have a guide with great spotting ability.
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