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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.
A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. 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.
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.
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]
The African barred owlet is partly diurnal. Calling occurs mainly at dusk and dawn but also through the night on calm and clear nights. It is frequently observed on open perches scanning for prey, even during the day. It roosts within cover, often in a natural cavity in a tree.
The mean number of prey deliveries when the young are 6–10 days old is 2.4 per night, 1.4 when they are 11–15 days old, 3.6 when they are 16–20 days old and 2.2 when they are 21–25 days old. He will continue hunting until the young disperse.
The female broods the owlets closely until 10–15 days, rarely ceasing as early as 7 days. [2] In a Danish study, it was found that 59% of 268 nestlings were male, as opposed to roughly even sex ratio in Great Britain or Hungary, with the ratio not changing annually unlike clutch size, brood size and reproductive success. [ 66 ]
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]