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Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
Pearl-spotted owlets call by day and night, especially before breeding, but are quiet when nesting. [4] They have a distinct call: a loud series of shrill, short whistles that accelerate in tempo and rise in volume to a crescendo of long, loud whistles that descend in pitch and volume, peu peu peu-peu-peu peeuu peeeuu.
The incubation period lasts approximately 32 days. Spotted eagle-owlets will jump out of a nest that is off the ground at about five weeks of age and spend about ten days on the ground before they can fly. During this time, the owlets learn essential skills by mock-hunting and catching smaller prey such as insects.
The young owlets fledge at about 10 weeks. Usually, chicks are born in mid-June or early July. By the end of July, they are almost always fledged and ready to set out on their own. After the young hatch, the female elf owl watches over them in the nesting cavity while the male often hunts for the young and the female herself.
Their call is a series of fast, bubbling hoots, uttered at night and frequently repeated. These fast, staccato notes followed by a longer and higher-pitched ‘hoot’ are extensively used during breeding season and pairs of owls often sing together. [3] The northern white-faced owl has a very different two-note call.
Hunting occurs mostly at night, but this owl is known to be diurnal and crepuscular as well. Its daylight hunting seems to coincide with the high-activity periods of voles, its preferred prey. [15] It tends to fly only feet above the ground in open fields and grasslands until swooping down upon its prey feet-first. [10]
It is not until they are about 5 months old do most young Verreaux's eagle-owl show the ability to capture prey for themselves. However, the stage at which the young of this species becomes independent appears remarkably variable. One ringed 9-month-old moved 24 km (15 mi) away from its nest area and was thus seemingly fully independent. [4]
When nesting, the male hunts and feeds the female at nest, and the female feeds the young. The nestlings fledge after 30–32 days. [19] A study conducted in the forests of Madhya Pradesh revealed that the forest owlet is a generalist predator that consumes a variety of small mammals. [20]