Encyclopedia of Life · EOL (see source)
Species
EndangeredSPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassAves
- OrderStrigiformes
- FamilyStrigidae
The forest owlet (Athene blewitti) is endemic to the forests of central India. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2018, as the population is estimated at less than 1,000 mature individuals. It is threatened foremost by deforestation.[1] It is a member of the typical owl family Strigidae, and was first described in 1873. As it was not sighted after 1884, it was considered extinct for many years.[2] In 1997, it was rediscovered by Pamela Rasmussen. Searches in the locality mentioned on the label of the last collected specimen failed, and it turned out that the specimen had been stolen from the British Museum by Richard Meinertzhagen and resubmitted with a label bearing false locality information.[3][4] Taxonomy Heteroglaux blewitti was the scientific name proposed by Allan Octavian Hume in 1873 who described a female owlet that had been shot near Basna in 1872.[5] Results of a phylogenetic study published in 2018 indicate that it a member of the Athene clade.[6] Description The whitish underside and small size are distinctive The forest owlet is small (23 cm) and stocky. It is a typical owlet with a rather unspotted crown and heavily banded wings and tail. They hav
via GBIF · IUCN
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 7
- Family
- Strigidae
- Collections
- SBMNH, USNM, NHMUK
- Recorded in
- India
Bird sounds
- song· India· quality A
- song· India· quality A
- begging call, call, juvenile and parent's contact call· India· quality A
- call, Territory defence call· India· quality A
via Xeno-canto
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Athene
- Image
- Forest Owlet Athene blewitti by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN5055 (9).jpg
Show 5 more facts
- taxon name
- Athene blewitti
- taxon rank
- species
- taxon common name
- mocho-da-floresta
- IUCN conservation status
- Endangered status
- Commons category
- Athene blewitti
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The forest owlet (Athene blewitti) is endemic to the forests of central India. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2018, as the population is estimated at fewer than 1,000 mature individuals. It is threatened foremost by deforestation.
It is a member of the typical owl family Strigidae, and was first described in 1873. As it was not sighted after 1884, it was considered extinct for many years. In 1997, it was rediscovered by Pamela Rasmussen. Searches in the locality mentioned on the label of the last collected specimen failed, and it turned out that the specimen had been stolen from the British Museum by Richard Meinertzhagen and resubmitted with a label bearing false locality information.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Athene blewitti” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.