Asian Barred Owlet

Although we heard Asian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides many times on the tour, this was the only day that we saw the bird. We arrived early in the morning at the King’s Project Huai Hong Krai en route from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon. The sun was shining and we had excellent views of the Owl sitting on a branch in bright sunlight.

Asian Barred Owlet is a small owl with a rounded head and no ear-tufts. It is also known as the Cuckoo Owlet. It is generally a diurnal bird, often found perched on bare branches or dead tree stumps in the full sunlight, or hunting during the day. While it may be vocal at any time of the day, it is most vocally active at dawn and for a couple of hours after sunrise. Flight is undulating; a series of rapid flaps followed by a pause with the wings closed.

Its habitat is open submontane or montane forest of pine, oak, rhododendron etc. and it also inhabits subtropical and tropical evergreen jungle at lower elevations. It is sometimes found near or in human habitations such as gardens, parks etc. It is a common species found from the western Himalayas of Northeast Pakistan through lower Himalayas east to Nepal, Bhutan, South Assam, Burma and East Bangladesh and across Southeast Tibet, Southeast China, south to Hainan and Southeast Asia.

Reference: The Owl Pages