Collared Owlet

Collared Owlet

Glaucidium brodiei

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Taroko National Park

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%

7 Verified sightings at Taroko National Park From 2019 to 2026
2,345 In all 11 parks
January Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Collared Owlet

The collared owlet (Taenioptynx brodiei), also known as the collared pygmy owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Its natural habitat is submontane and montane forests with open spaces and is distributed throughout oriental Asia. It is the smallest owl in Asia, at 15 cm (5.9 in) and 60 g (2.1 oz).

The collared owlet was first described in 1836 as Noctua brodiei by the English zoologist Edward Burton. It was moved to the genus Glaucidium based on a comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences and proved to be closely related to the jungle owlet (G. radiatum) and the Asian barred owlet (G. cuculoides).

Two subspecies are recognised: The Sunda owlet (T. sylvaticum) was formerly treated as a subspecies of the collared owlet. It was promoted to species status based on the results of a vocalisation study published in 2019.

The collared owlet, being Asia's smallest owl species, measures between 15 and 17 cm. Females are generally larger than the males, weighing approximately 63 g, whereas males weigh in... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Recording0:18

Thailand · 2025

© Paula Goldberg · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Recording0:08

China · 2025

© 哈基人 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Recording0:12

Taiwan · 2025

© Amaël Borzée · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~30%
2 Kerinci Seblat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~20%
3 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
~20%
4 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
5 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
6 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
7 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
8 Langtang National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
9 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
10 Cuc Phuong National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
<5%
11 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
2 Guwahati 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Collared Owlet in Taroko National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Owlet sighting in Taroko National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 61st most-seen of the 147 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Collared Owlet in Taroko National Park?

January

In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Owlet in Taroko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, May–June and August–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Collared Owlet?

Between 2 and 5 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Collared Owlet sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Where does the Collared Owlet sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Collared Owlet is recorded against all the birds logged in Taroko National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

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