Not giving a hoot

The stereotypical cartoon and storybook impressions of those fascinating night birds called owls, is that they ‘hoot’ but this is far from the truth as the vast majority of owls do not give a hoot at all! Take, for example, the most common owl in the country which is known as ‘Athene brama’ or ‘spotted little owl’ which, picture perfect in miniature as it is, has a tendency to literally shriek something like ‘querq-querq’, starting out seemingly hesitantly but getting louder and louder and more strident until it reaches an ear-piercing crescendo which, when it is ‘singing’ a duet with its mate, is a racket not to be ignored. This tiny owl or ‘owlet’ has a head and body length of just 21 to 23cm, a tail length of 7.5 to 8.5cm, a wing length of 16.9 to 17.1cm and weighs only around 14 grams when it is fully grown. The males are slightly smaller than the females but have identical markings of a mainly grey-brown colour with white spots, a creamy breast and it wears a distinctive white collar around its throat with matching white discs around its exceptionally observant eyes. Mainly active at night, spotted little owls will, if necessary also fly during daylight and can often be seen around sunset and up until the dawn light is quite bright. Unlike other species of owl, this little bird does, in the absence of trees such as in the desert areas it is quite fond of, roost in crevices and holes in stony slopes and in cliffs and — this is surprising — not just fly but literally run like a rabbit on the ground, bobbing up and down as it goes and providing an altogether comical sight. Found everywhere but being particularly numerous in The Salt Range of the Punjab, in the desert around Thatta and in rocky, arid zones of Balochistan, the spotted little owl pairs up for years, possibly, for life. The female selects a readymade nest such as a natural cliff hole or a comfortable hole in a tree in which she lays three or four round, white eggs during late spring. The eggs hatch out after 28 to 30 days and by the time it is five weeks owl, the baby owl is ready to begin flying and take hunting lessons from its mother. Spotted little owls enjoy a varied diet of small birds, lizards, mice, beetles and other flying insects, catching them in either their sharp beak or even sharper claws and then, using one foot to hold their food, they sit on a convenient branch or boulder and nibble away. If, or when, you see one of these fascinating little birds, don’t be surprised if it simply sits right where it is, stares at you in disbelief and then suddenly, at the top of its voice, shrieks ‘querq-querq’ to frighten you away!