Asian Barred Owlet

The Asian barred owlet, also called the cuckoo owlet, is a pygmy owl 22–25 cm long, one of the larger pygmy owls. Males weigh 150–176 g and females up to 240 g. It is dark brown or olive brown with a white throat patch and is densely barred, with a whitish breast and belly barred dark brown and a dark brown tail and wings barred whitish. Juveniles have a streaked, not barred, breast and a more ruddy brown head (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is native to forests and shrublands from mainland Southeast Asia to the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan, and has been found in foothills and submontane regions up to about 2,100 m. It is primarily insectivorous but will also eat lizards, small rodents and birds. Mainly diurnal, it perches on bare branches and hunts freely through the day. The male's song is a trill lasting 5–20 seconds, growing louder and harsher before stopping abruptly, and a common call is a smooth hoot (Wikipedia, general species account).