CreatureData

Forest owlet

Athene blewitti (Hume, 1873)

ENEndangeredowls

The forest owlet (Athene blewitti) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 241 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Forest owlet (Athene blewitti)
Photo: Saswat Mishra · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the forest owlet

Weight
241 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the forest owlet live?

Not recorded

What is the forest owlet?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Forest owlet” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest_owlet&oldid=1377172066), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the forest owlet endangered?

The forest owlet is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the forest owlet classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusAthene
  7. SpeciesAthene blewitti (Hume, 1873)

Synonyms Athene blewitti blewitti, Athene blewitti blewitti, Heteroglaux blewitti

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • Forest little owlEnglish
  • Forest spotted owletEnglish
  • بومة الغابةArabic
  • Малка горска кукумявкаBulgarian
  • mussol de BlewittCatalan
  • sýček lesníCzech
  • sýček indickýCzech
  • Tylluan fach y goedwigWelsh
  • SkovkirkeugleDanish
  • Plettet SkovugleDanish
  • BlewittkauzGerman
  • BändersteinkauzGerman
  • Blewitt-KauzGerman
  • arbara strigetoEsperanto
  • Mochuelo ForestalSpanish
  • Mochuelo de BlewittSpanish
  • Mochuelo de la IndiaSpanish
  • mets-kivikakkEstonian
  • بوفچه جنگلیPersian
  • hindustaninpöllöFinnish
  • Chevêche forestièreFrench
  • DudaHindi
  • हॉल्विट उल्लूHindi
  • sivoprsi ćukCroatian
  • erdei kuvikHungarian
  • Civetta di BlewittItalian
  • Civetta di forestaItalian
  • モリコキンメフクロウJapanese
  • miškinė pelėdikėLithuanian
  • Džungļu apogsLatvian
  • रानपिंगळाMarathi
  • BossteenuilDutch
  • karmaugleNorwegian
  • pójdźka leśnaPolish
  • mocho-da-florestaPortuguese
  • corujinha-da-florestaPortuguese
  • Лесной сычRussian
  • kuvik lesnýSlovak
  • Шумска кукумавкаSerbian
  • Šumska kukumavkaSerbian
  • djungelugglaSwedish
  • Blewitt BaykuşuTurkish
  • сич лісовийUkrainian
  • 林斑小鴞Chinese
  • 林斑小鸮Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the forest owlet

Other species in the same genus Athene.

Makira owl

Athene roseoaxillaris

StrigidaeNo free photo yet

CompareForest owlet vs Little owlForest owlet vs Burrowing owlForest owlet vs Spotted owletForest owlet vs White-browed owl

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the forest owlet?

An adult forest owlet weighs 241 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the forest owlet endangered?

The forest owlet is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the forest owlet?

The forest owlet (Athene blewitti) belongs to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Forest owlet (Athene blewitti). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-owlet

MLA

“Forest owlet (Athene blewitti).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-owlet.

BibTeX
@misc{forest_owlet_2026,
  title = {Forest owlet (Athene blewitti)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-owlet},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}