Athene brama
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The spotted owlet (Athene brama) 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.
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.
Early workers sometimes treated members of this species group as subspecies of Athene noctua. The two have been separated but they are considered to form a superspecies complex. Several subspecies have been described and about four or five are widely accepted... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 14 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 15 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 17 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 18 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aligarh | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Asansol | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 4 | Bareilly | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Jammu | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Berhampore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Jaipur | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Owlet sighting in Varanasi on a given day, based on 28 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 52nd most-seen of the 92 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Owlet in Varanasi on a given day, against under 5% in February, April and August, the lowest months. That is one of Varanasi's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 250 mm in July.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Owlet sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
41st of 67
Of the 67 cities where we can rate Spotted Owlet sightings, Varanasi ranks 41st at about 10%. The best odds are in Aligarh (India, about 40%), Asansol (India, about 30%) and Savar (Bangladesh, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Owlet is recorded against all the birds logged in Varanasi (28 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
