Clicky

Athene blewitti (Hume, 1873:468)

Forest little owl, Forest owlet, Forest spotted owlet

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Heteroglaux Blewitti Hume, 1873:468; Heteroglaux blewitti Hume, 1873:468; Athene blewitti blewitti (Hume, 1873:468); Heteroglaux blewitii (Hume, 1873:468); Heteroglaux blewetti (Hume, 1873:468) [orth. error used by Anand, 2019]; Athene bleinitti (Hume, 1873:468) [orth. error used by Khoshoo, 1996:509]

 

Conservation Status

Last Record: 1884 (generally accepted); 1914 (Day, 1981:61)

Rediscovered on 25 November 1997

 

IUCN RedList status: [url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22689335/0]Critically Endangered[/url]

 

Distribution

India (central)

 

Biology

 

 

Hypodigm

"Museum: AMNH (1), BMNH (holotype), MCZ (2), NMI (1)" (Weick, 2006:193)

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Hume, A. O. (1873). Heteroglaux blewitti, sp. nov. Stray Feathers 1: 464-483. [468-469?]

 

Other references:

Ali, Salim. (1978) Mystery birds of India 3: Blewitt’s Owl or Forest Spotted Owlet. Hornbill 1978 (Jan.-Mar.): 4-6.

Ali, Salim and Ripley, S. Dillon. (1969). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. 2 and 3. Bombay: Oxford University Press.

Ali, Salim and Ripley, S. Dillon. (1983). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. 737 p. (plus 113 plates).

Anand, Akshay V. (2019). A Comparative Study on the Nest Site Selection and Cavity Availability of the Forest owlet [i]Heteroglaux blewetti[/i] and other Sympatric Owls in Khandwa District, Madhya Pradesh. Thesis, School of Life Sciences Pondicherry University, Puducherry.

Anon. (2009). Status of Blewitt's Owl in Aruka Valley and Environmental Management Plan in view of the proposed bauxite mines. Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History Annual Report 2007-2008: 50-51.

Ara, J. (1953). Field notes on the birds of the Kolhan Forest Division (Singhbhum District, Bihar). J. Bengal Nat. Hist. Soc. 26: 9-20, 56-67.

Ara, J. (1956). Birds of the Bihar forests–I. J. Bengal Nat. Hist. Soc. 28: 7-15, 90-98.

Baker ECS (1927) The fauna of British India. Birds 4. London, Striges, pp 383–458.

Baker, E. C. S. (1932-1935). The nidification of birds of the British Empire 1–4. London: Taylor and Francis.

Ball, V. (1877). Notes on birds observed in the region between the Mahanadi and Godavari rivers. Stray Feathers 5: 410–420.

Ball, V. (1878). From the Ganges to the Godaveri. On the distribution of birds, so far as it is present known, throughout the hilly region which extends from the Rajmehal Hills to the Godaveri valley. Stray Feathers 7: 191-235.

BirdLife International. (2001). Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti, pp. 1772-1775. Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

BirdLife International. (2013). Heteroglaux blewitti. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 18 January 2014.

Boyer T, Hume R (1991) Owls of the world. Dragons World.

Chavan, Rushikesh A. and Rithe, Kishor D. (2009). Occurrence and Breeding record of the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti from Yawal Wildlife sanctuary, Maharashtra, India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 106(2): 207-208.

Chavan, R., Pariwakam, M. and  Bansod, V. (2013). Occurrence of the Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewittiin Narnala Wildlife Sanctuary,Maharashtra. Journal Care4Nature 1(1): 33-35.

Davidson, J. (1882). Rough list of the birds of western Khandesh. Stray Feathers 10: 279-326.

Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.

del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (1999) Handbook of the birds of the world, 5. Lynx Ed., Barcelona. [pp. 226-227]

Donald, Paul F. et al. (2010). Facing Extinction: The world's rarest birds and the race to save them. London: T & A D Poyser.

Eck S, Busse H (1973) Eulen. NBB, Wittenberg.

Gallagher, Tim. (1998) Lost and found. Living Bird 17(2): 24-28.

Ginn, H. (1973). Little, pygmy and elf owls. Pp.164–185 in J. A. Burton, ed. Owls of the world, their evolution, structure and ecology. London: Peter Lowe.

Grimmett R, Inskipp C, Inskipp T (1998) Birds of the Indian Subkontinent. Helm.

Hasan, N. (1976). Naturalist on trail of a lost owl. Hindustan Times 9 February 1976: 1, 6.

Ishtiaq, F. (1998). Status and distribution of the Forest Owlet Athene blewitti. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai. Unpublished report.

Ishtiaq, F. (1999). The Forest Spotted Owlet Athene blewitti—an update. Hornbill (June-September) 1999(3): 26-28.

Ishtiaq, F. (2000a). An enigma of the Forest Owlet. Sanctuary Asia XX: 34-37.

Ishtiaq, F. (2000b). The enigmatic Forest Owlet. World Birdwatch 22: 24-26.

Ishtiaq, Farah and Rahmani, Asad R. (2000a). Further information on the status and distribution of the Forest Owlet Athene blewitti in India. Forktail 16: 125-130.

Ishtiaq, Farah and Rahmani, Asad R. (2000b). Cronism in the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti. Forktail 16: 172-174. [p. 172-173?]

Ishtiaq, F. and Rahmani, A. R. (2005). The Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti: vocalization, breeding biology and conservation. Ibis 147: 197-205.

Ishtiaq, F., Rahmani, A. R. and Rasmussen, P. C. (2002). Ecology and behaviour of the Forest Owlet Athene blewitti. In Newton, I., Kavanagh, R.P., Olsen, J. & Taylor, I.R. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Owls: 80–88. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.

Jathar, Girish. (2003). Saving the mysterious Forest Owlet. Mistnet 4(3 & 4): 9-10.

Jathar, Girish A. and Patil, D. N. (2011). Reassessment of the status of the Forest Owlet in its known distribution and evaluation of conservation issues. Final Report. Foundation for Ecological Conservation and Sustainable Development, India. Published for Watershed Organization Trust, Pune.

Jathar, Girish A. and Rahmani, A. R. (2004). Ecological studies of the Forest Spotted Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti: final report. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. 77 pp.

Jathar, Girish A. Rahmani, A. R. (2006). Status of the critically endangered Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti (Hume) in Maharashtra. Melghat Tiger Reserve Technical Bulletin.

Jathar, Girish A. and Rahmani, A. R. (2012). Habitat utilization by Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti in Toranmal Reserve Forest, India. Journal of Care4Nature 1(1): 18-30.

Kasambe, R.; Pande, S.; Wadatkar, J.; Pawashe, A. (2004). Additional records of the Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti Hume, 1873, in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra. Newsletter for Ornithologists: 12-14.

Kasambe, R.; Wadatkar, J.; Bhusum, N.S.; Kasdekar, F. (2005). Forest Owlets Heteroglaux blewitti in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Distt. Amravati, Maharashtra. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 45: 38-40.

Khoshoo, T. N. (1996). India needs a National Biodiversity Conservation Board. Current Science 71(7): 506-513.

King, Ben F. and Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998). The rediscovery of the Forest Owlet. Forktail 14: 53-55.

Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [p. 171]

König C, Weick F, Becking JH (1999) Owls. A guide to the owls of the world. Pica Press.

Koparde P, Mehta P, Reddy S, Ramakrishnan U, Mukherjee S, Robin VV. (2018). The critically endangered forest owlet [i]Heteroglaux blewitti[/i] is nested within the currently recognized Athene clade: A century-old debate addressed. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0192359.

Kulkarni, J. and Mehta, P. (2020). Habitat selectivity by the Forest Owlet Athene blewitti in Nandurbar District, Maharashtra, India. Indian BIRDS 16(2): 33-39.

Laad, Sunil and Dagale, Rohidas. (2014). First report of Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti from Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary (Western Ghats), Maharashtra, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 111: 134.

Laad, Sunil, Dagale, Rohidas and Jathar, Girish. (2016). Northern Western Ghats: Forest Owlet's new abode. Mistnet 17(2-3): 2-6. [p. 2-7?]

Marks J. S., Cannings R. J. and Mikkola H. (1999) Family Strigidae (Typical Owls). In del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1999). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions.

Mehta, Prachi, Kulkarni, Jayant, Mukherjee, Shubhadeep, Chavan, Shreenath and Anand, Akshay Vinod. (2017). A distribution survey of the Forest Owlet [i]Heteroglaux blewitii[/i] in north-western Maharashtra. Indian Birds 13(4): 103-108.

Mehta, Prachi, Kulkarni, Jayant, Patil, D., Kolte, P. and Khatavkar, P. (2007). A survey of critically endangered Forest Owlet ([i]Heteroglaux blewitti[/i]) in Central India. Final Report. Envirosearch, Pune.

Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. (2015). Annual report 2015. Available from: http://www.speciesconservation.org/media/mbz-species-conservation-fund-50.pdf [Accessed 14 January 2017]

Narasimmarajan, Kannadasan and Mahato, Subhasis. (2013). Noteworthy Records of Critically Endangered Forest Owlet [i]Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti[/i] in the Amravati District of Maharashtra, Central India. World Journal of Zoology 8(3): 240-242.

Pande, S., A. Pawashe, R. Kasambe and R. Yosef. (2011). Discovery of a possible hybrid of the Critically Endangered Forest Owlet [i]Athene blewitti[/i] and Spotted Owlet [i]Athene brama[/i] (Aves: Strigiformes) from northern Maharashtra, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 3: 1727-1730.

Patel, J.R., S.B. Patel, S.C. Rathor, J.A. Patel, P.B. Patel and A.G. Vasava (2015). New distribution record of the Forest Owlet [i]Heteroglaux blewitti[/i] Hume, 1873 (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae), in Purna Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(12): 7940-7944.

Patel, Jenis, Vasava, Anirudh and Patel, Niyati. (2017). Occurrence of the Forest Owlet [i]Heteroglaux blewitti[/i] in Navsari and Valsad Districts of Gujarat, India. Indian Birds 13(3): 78-79.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998a). The tracking of the Forest Spotted Owlet. Hornbill 1998(1): 4-9.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998b). In search of the Forest Spotted Owlet. Sanctuary (Asia) 18(2): 22-25.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998c). Rediscovery of an Indian enigma: the Forest Owlet. Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 27: 50-52.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998d). Forest Owlet [i]Athene blewitti[/i] rediscovered after 113-year hiatus. Bird Conserv. International 8: 109.

Rasmussen PC (2005) Birds of South Asia. The Ripley guide. Vol 1: 180 col pl, vol 2: 683 pp, Washington and Barcelona.

Rasmussen PC, Abbott (1998) Living Bird 1998(Spring): 28.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. and Collar, Nigel J. (1998). Identification, distribution and status of the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti. Forktail 14: 43-51. [pp. 41-49?]

Rasmussen, Pamela C. and Collar, N. J. (1999). A major specimen fraud in the Forest Owlet Heteroglaux (Athene auct.) blewitti. Ibis 141: 11-21.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. and Collar, Nigel J. (Ms) Systematics of the Forest Owlet Heteroglaux (Athene) blewitti.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. and Ishtiaq, Farah. (1999). Vocalizations and behaviour of the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) blewitti. Forktail 15: 61-65.

Ripley, S. D. (1976). Reconsideration of Athene blewitti (Hume). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 73: 1-4.

Rithe, K. (2003). Saving the Forest Owlet. Sanctuary Asia 23: 30-31. [p. 30-33?]

Scheffers, Brett R., Yong, Ding Li, Harris, J. Berton C., Giam, Xingli and Sodhi, Navjot S. (2011). The world’s rediscovered species: back from the brink? PLoS ONE 6(7): e22531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022531 [Supporting Information (Table S1)]

Sharma, S. K. and Tehsin, R. (1994). Birds of southern Rajasthan. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 34: 109-113.

Sharpe RB (1891) Scientific research of second Yarkand Mission. Aves.

Weick F (2003–2005) Neue and wiederentdeckte Eulen der zurückliegenden 15 Jahre. Gefiederte Welt 2003–2005, Fortsetzungen. Ulmer. [2003(10):304]

Weick, Friedhelm. (2006). Owls (Strigiformes): Annotated and Illustrated Checklist. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Yosef, R., S.A. Pande & R. Kasambe (submitted). Anthropogenic activity aids habitat selection and survival of the Critically Endangered Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti). Journal of Threatened Taxa. [citation given in Pande et al. 2011]

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/wild-side-this-endangered-owl-species-is-active-during-day-4397334/

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/6682/rediscovery-forest-owlet-athene

 

<< Back to the Strigiformes (Owls) database