Little Owl Athene noctua Scientific name definitions

This species account is dedicated in honor of Inge Reichenbach, member of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Administrative Board.

21–23 cm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); wingspan 54–58 cm; male c. 162–177 g, female c. 166–206 g (vidalii). Compact, plump and relatively small, with wings broad and rounded; flight undulating, with alternating bouts of flapping and closing wings. Plumage colour variable, from grey-brown or rufous-brown to ochre-buff; upperparts spotted white, underparts splashed; facial disc obvious on dark birds; irides bright yellow ; bill pale yellow; legs proportionately long, feathered, pale yellowish to white. Distinguished from A. brama by slightly larger size, absence of bold barring on underparts; from Glaucidium passerinum, Aegolius funereus and smaller Otus species by more boldly spotted appearance, lack of ear-tufts or sharp corners to head, and distinctive calls and flight. Juvenile distinctly paler and much more uniformly patterned than adult; spots buff, not white, and streaking narrower and paler brown. Races differentiated by colour and size: <em>vidalii</em> darkest, dark umber-brown above with white flecking on crown and white spotting on mantle, scapulars and larger wing-coverts, sepia flight-feathers, ground colour of underparts white but with black-brown band across throat and broad dark brown splashing and streaking on lower breast and body, better-marked facial disc with white on edges of crown, around outer cheeks and under bill and eyes, but dusky from bill through eye and in half-circle in centre of cheeks; <em>lilith</em> palest, pattern similar to vidalii but with pale buff upperparts and extensive white markings; other races intermediate.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Probably closest to A. brama. Race lilith, shown in recent studies to differ in DNA and vocal patterns, may be a separate species, and treated as such by one recent author (who claimed sympatric occurrence with A. n. indigena, glaux and bactriana) (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), although not by authors of very recent major checklist (2 Dickinson, E. C., and J. V. Remsen, Editors (2013). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth edition. Volume 1. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ); paler than other races, less streaked below and with more distinct occipital face, but sympatry rather than intergradation with bactriana unclear (3 Kirwan, G.M., Boyla, K.A., Castell, P., Demirci, B., Özen, M., Welch, H. and Marlow, T. (2008). The Birds of Turkey: the Distribution, Taxonomy and Breeding of Turkish Birds. Christopher Helm, London. Close ) and vocal evidence not established. Race spilogastra (with somaliensis) recently treated as a separate species on account of smaller size yet longer toes and “zoogeographical aspects” plus the comment that voice “said to differ” (4 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but far better evidence required; examination of toes in NHMUK does not suggest significant difference. Likewise, plumipes said to be genetically distinct (5 Wink, M., El-Sayed, A.A., Sauer-Gürth, H. and Gonzalez, J. (2009). Molecular phylogeny of owls (Strigiformes) inferred from DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and the nuclear RAG-1 gene. Ardea. 97(4): 581–591. Close ), and has been treated as a separate species (6 Mikkola, H. (2012). Owls of the World. A Photographic Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); further study required. Many races considered probably intermediate populations or reflection of individual variation, while geographical subspecific boundaries obscure, with many intergrading populations: vidalii and indigena intergrade over wide area in NW Russia; nominate noctua intergrades with vidalii over wide area from S France E to Czech and Slovak Republics, and with indigena in former Yugoslavia; indigena and vidalii intergrade in N Ukraine, Belarus and C Russia; lilith intergrades with saharae in Saudi Arabia and with bactriana in Iraq; bactriana intergrades also with ludlowi in W Himalayas (Ladakh). Race saharae sometimes subsumed within glaux. Corsican and Sardinian populations perhaps warrant subspecific status (as sarda), this being supported by DNA data (7 Pellegrino, I., Negri, A., Boano, G., Cucco, M., Kristensen, T.N., Pertoldi, C., Randi, E., Šálek, M. and Mucci, N. (2015). Evidence for strong genetic structure in European populations of the Little Owl Athene noctua. Journal of Avian Biology. 46(5): 462–475. Close ). Proposed races kessleri and caucasica synonymous with indigena; solitudinis synonymous with saharae; in Europe, grueni and cantabriensis subsumed within vidalii and salentina and daciae in nominate. Thirteen subspecies recognized.

Introduced, just outside natural range, to Britain; also to New Zealand.

---

EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Little Owl (Little) Athene noctua [noctua Group]

Available illustrations of subspecies in this group

• eBird map
• 482 photos
• 22 recordings

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua vidalii Scientific name definitions

Distribution

W and N Europe (S Baltic S to Iberia, including Balearic Is) E to NW Russia.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua noctua Scientific name definitions

Distribution

C Europe (from about S Germany) S to Sardinia and Sicily, E to NW Romania (2 Dickinson, E. C., and J. V. Remsen, Editors (2013). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth edition. Volume 1. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ).

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua indigena Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Albania, S Serbia, S and E Romania E through S Ukraine to Caucasus and SW Siberia, S to Crete, Turkey (except SE) and the Levant (S to Haifa, in NW Israel).

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua glaux Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N African coast, and coastal Israel S from Haifa.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua saharae Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N and C Sahara (S to Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan) E, discontinuously, into Arabian Peninsula.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua orientalis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

extreme NW China and adjacent Siberia.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua impasta Scientific name definitions

Distribution

NC China (NW Qinghai and SW Gansu).

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua ludlowi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S and E Tibet E to W Sichuan (SC China), and S to N Himalayas.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua plumipes Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Altai Mts, Mongolia and Transbaikalia E to NE China and Ussuriland.

---

EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Little Owl (Abyssinian) Athene noctua spilogastra/somaliensis

• eBird map
• 5 photos
• 0 recordings

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua spilogastra Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Sudan, Eritrea and NE Ethiopia.

---

SUBSPECIES

Athene noctua somaliensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Ethiopia and Somalia.

---

EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Little Owl (Lilith) Athene noctua lilith Scientific name definitions

• eBird map
• 134 photos
• 1 recordings

Distribution

Cyprus, and inland Middle East from SE Turkey S to S Sinai.

---

EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Little Owl (Hutton's) Athene noctua bactriana Scientific name definitions

• eBird map
• 35 photos
• 2 recordings

Distribution

SE Azerbaijan, E Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan E through C Asia to L Balkhash and S to W Pakistan.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Wide variety of semi-open habitats from steppes and stony semi-desert to farmland and open woodland, villages and urban areas, but extending to boreal and tropical areas; tends to avoid tall and dense stands of trees and any dense vegetation, even margins or enclaves between forests; frequently perches on post, tree or telegraph wire, or even building , particularly isolated one. Radio-tagged breeders in Poland often used fields of cereal grains and tended to avoid row crops such as sugar beets and potatoes (8 Grzywaczewski, G. (2009). Home range size and habitat use of the Little Owl Athene noctua in East Poland. Ardea. 97(4): 541–545. Close ). In the Czech Republic, nesting birds hunted preferentially in grasslands (especially pastures), where they preferred sparse, short vegetation that provided good access to ground-dwelling invertebrates that were their main prey (9 Šálek, M. and Lövy, M. (2012). Spatial ecology and habitat selection of Little Owl Athene noctua during the breeding season in central European farmland. Bird Conservation International. 22(3): 328-338. Close ).

Essentially resident. Most first-year birds settle within 20 km of natal site, although some reported to disperse 200–600 km between hatching and first breeding site (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Accidental in Ireland (from introduced British population), Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Malta and Canary Is.

Largely small mammals and birds, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, crickets (Orthoptera), earwigs (Dermaptera) and earthworms (Lumbricidae). In Germany, insects  and other invertebrates comprised 72% of diet, in Netherlands 89·2%, in France 94%, in Spain 96%, and in Italy 98%; proportion of invertebrate food increases gradually from C Europe to Mediterranean, probably result of increasing scarcity of vole (Microtus) prey in Mediterranean community. May deliberately take plant material (10 Hounsome, T., O’Mahony, D. and Delahay, R. (2004). The diet of Little Owls Athene noctua in Gloucestershire, England. Bird Study. 51(3): 282-284. Close ), chiefly grass and other leaves but also small fruits, berries and maize (Zea); other unusual food includes crayfish (e.g. Procambarus clarkii) (11 Bavoux, C., Faux, E., Mimaud, L. and Seguin, N. (2002). Prédation d'écrevisses par la Chevêche d'Athéna Athene noctua dans le marais de Brouage (Charente-Maritime, France). Alauda. 70(1): 225-226. Close ) and molluscs (10 Hounsome, T., O’Mahony, D. and Delahay, R. (2004). The diet of Little Owls Athene noctua in Gloucestershire, England. Bird Study. 51(3): 282-284. Close ). Hunting essentially nocturnal  and crepuscular, mainly dusk to midnight, then break of 2 hours before resumption to dawn; rarely diurnal. Hunts by perching on post or similar vantage point, dropping on prey  ; occasionally hovers; also hunts on ground, can run rapidly while chasing prey; larger prey taken with feet, smaller prey with bill. Beetles swallowed whole or sometimes held up in foot to be bitten 2–3 times; earthworms swallowed in single snap; prey accumulations presumed to be true caches of 30 or more items recorded. In Portugal, adults hunting diurnally varied hunting strategy depending on habitat; in “pseudo-steppe,” where low piles of stones were the only suitable perches, owls perched on the highest spots available (mean 0·77 m), and perch height and distance to prey attacked were positively correlated (i.e. higher perches resulted in increased prey detectability); in woodland, owls used lower perches relatively to availability (mean 2·67 m used versus 4.99 m available), and attack distance did not differ between habitats despite the use of higher perches in woodland; in each habitat, hunting owls selected perch heights that appeared to maximize prey detectability (12 Tomé R., Dias M.P., Chumbinho A.C. and Bloise C. (2011). Influence of perch height and vegetation structure on the foraging behaviour of Little Owls Athene noctua: how to achieve the same success in two distinct habitats. Ardea. 99(1):17-26. Close ).

Male advertising call a mellow hoot , “goooek,” rising sharply in pitch at end, but that of lilith without upward inflection; loud “hoo,” sometimes in crescendo series of 4–10 (up to 60), about 12–20 calls per minute; various other calls. In study in Denmark, calls of breeding males estimated to be audible from 4·4 km away; males with occupied neighbouring territories within this “hearing distance” called more often than did those without close neighbours (13 Jacobsen, L.B., Sunde, P., Rahbek, C., Dabelsteen, T. and Thorup, K. (2013). Territorial calls in the Little Owl (Athene noctua): spatial dispersion and social interplay of mates and neighbours. Ornis Fennica. 90(1): 41-49. Close ).

Season Mar–Aug; second broods rare. Monogamous, both socially and genetically (14 Müller, W., Epplen, J.T. and Lubjuhn, T. (2001). Genetic paternity analyses in Little Owls (Athene noctua): does the high rate of paternal care select against extra-pair young? Journal of Ornithology. 142(2): 195-203. Close ), the pair-bond often persisting all year and perhaps until partner dies. Copulations are frequent beginning in midwinter; female initiates mating whereas male solicits female to visit potential nesting sites (15 Ancelet, C. (2004). Parade et accouplement chez la Chevêche d'Athéna Athene noctua. Alauda. 72(3): 211-219. Close ). Nest in cavity, hole cleaned and hollow scraped; recorded sharing nest tree with Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba), also sharing hollow tree with Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and Common Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes); readily accepts nest boxes (16 Gottschalk, T.K., Ekschmitt, K. and Wolters, V. (2011). Efficient placement of nest boxes for the Little Owl (Athene noctua). Journal of Raptor Research. 45(1): 1-14. Close ); some nest-sites in Britain used for over 25 years. Clutch size 3–6 eggs, usually laid at 2-day intervals; mean egg size 34·4 mm × 29·6 mm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Lost clutches not often replaced; incubation 28–33 days, by female, reports of male incubating undocumented and require confirmation; hatching either asynchronous or nearly synchronous; chick with grey-mottled down; female broods until young 14 days old, leaving nest only for brief periods, relying on male for food, both sexes feeding after 14 days; young sometimes leave nest before fledging, hide in surrounding vegetation, fledge generally at 30–35 days, cared for and fed by both parents for 1 month after. Radio-tagged fledglings in Denmark remained on natal territories for at least 45 days after fledging, which was 10 days after parents stopped feeding them; half dispersed by mid-Sept, and half were still on the natal territory in mid-Oct (17 Pedersen, D., Thorup, K., Sunde, P., Jacobsen, L.B. and Rahbek, C. (2013). Post-fledging behaviour of juveniles in the Little Owl (Athene noctua). Ornis Fennica. 90(2): 117-128. Close ). In Germany, average 4·2 eggs/clutch recorded, average 2·4 young left nest hole, breeding success 58%; in Germany and Netherlands, mortality in first year of life 70%, annual adult mortality 35%. In Denmark, where in rapid decline, with reduced survival of young and probably of adults, it was estimated from data on ringed birds during 1920–2002, radio-tagged adults and juveniles in 2005–2008 and nest surveys in 2006–2008 that 32% of all eggs produce chicks and these survive to at least two weeks after hatching (age of ringing), 47% of nestlings fledge, and 55% of radio-tracked fledglings reach dispersal stage, giving survival from egg to dispersal of 8%; combined ringing and radio-tracking data indicated lower survival in first year of life and much lower rate in first three months; further, ringing data (during 1920–2002) showed that survival lower in winter months, but radio-tagged owls (2005–2008) had highest mortality rates during breeding season, while accidents in buildings and other structures were responsible for two-thirds of all fatalities of radio-tagged adults and fledged juveniles (18 Thorup, K., Pedersen, D., Sunde, P., Jacobsen, L. B. and Rahbek, C. (2013). Seasonal survival rates and causes of mortality of Little Owls in Denmark. Journal of Ornithology. 154(1): 183-190. Close ). Home-range size of 11 radio-tagged adults breeding in an agricultural landscape in Poland averaged 22·3, 37·5, and 17·0 ha during the incubation, nestling, and fledgling stages, respectively (8 Grzywaczewski, G. (2009). Home range size and habitat use of the Little Owl Athene noctua in East Poland. Ardea. 97(4): 541–545. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Best current (mid 1990s) population estimates for Europe, expressed as number of breeding pairs: Iberia 88,000; Italy and France each 22,000; Britain 9000; Netherlands 11,000; Germany 7000; E & SE Europe 90,000; Russia up to 100,000; Turkey perhaps 20,000. In prime habitats such as in the French Massif Central and around the Black Sea, densities may reach 2·2 pairs/km². No reliable data for rest of range. Population fluctuates, especially in N of range, where marked decreases recorded after severe winters. Range has contracted locally in many parts of Europe, ascribed mainly to habitat loss and degradation, including loss of suitable nest sites and, less often, pesticides; decreases reported in Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic (9 Šálek, M. and Lövy, M. (2012). Spatial ecology and habitat selection of Little Owl Athene noctua during the breeding season in central European farmland. Bird Conservation International. 22(3): 328-338. Close ), Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. Numbers in Netherlands probably declined by 50% or more from 1970–1990, qualifying species for national Red List; industrialized farming practices largely responsible, reducing foodstocks such as voles and earthworms. Densities were depressed near major roads in a rural landscape in S Portugal, perhaps because of increased mortality and disturbance from traffic, habitat fragmentation, and traffic noise (19 Silva, C.C., Lourenço, R., Godinho, S., Gomes, E., Sabino-Marques, H., Medinas, D., Neves, V., Silva, C., Rabaça, J.E. and Mira, A. (2012). Major roads have a negative impact on the Tawny Owl Strix aluco and the Little Owl Athene noctua populations. Acta Ornithologica. 47(1): 47-54. Close ). In Denmark, anthropogenic habitats are used for nesting and roosting by the last surviving individuals, and accidental deaths associated with these may be contributing factor to present decline of this population (18 Thorup, K., Pedersen, D., Sunde, P., Jacobsen, L. B. and Rahbek, C. (2013). Seasonal survival rates and causes of mortality of Little Owls in Denmark. Journal of Ornithology. 154(1): 183-190. Close ). In Britain, humans caused 35 of 52 breeding failures (67%) by various means, including taking eggs, shooting, deliberately blocking nest chambers, and disturbance by machinery. In C Europe, pastures and meadows flanked by pollard trees afford ample nest-sites and hunting lookout posts, and year-round short herbage with plenty of invertebrate prey provides optimal habitat; however, carrying capacity can be prejudiced by intensification of agricultural methods, ground clearance, reduced availability of nest holes through tree-felling and demolition or repair of old buildings, excessive use of toxic chemicals, and road-traffic deaths; such injurious factors can be partially offset by conservation, and where necessary by regular pollarding of old nesting trees and provision of nest boxes (as e.g. in Belgium and Germany) to replace lost natural holes. Species will adopt alternative nesting places, including crevices in ruins, windmills and adobe buildings. In a declining population in Denmark, adults given supplementary food had shorter mean flight distances and hunted closer to the nest than did adults that were not provided with food; both responses to supplementary feeding could lead to increased productivity and higher adult survival (20 Jacobsen, L.B., Chrenková, M., Sunde, P., Šálek, M. and Thorup, K. (2016). Effects of food provisioning and habitat management on spatial behaviour of Little Owls during the breeding season. Ornis Fennica. 93(2): 121-129. Close ). On the basis of a large data set from the Netherlands, where species has declined, annual survival was 0·26 for juveniles and 0·75 for adults; dynamics of vole populations did not explain changes in adult survival; rather, dry and cold years resulted in low adult survival; low juvenile survival that limits recruitment of breeders, and the regular occurrence of years with poor adult survival, were the most important factors in the population decline (21 Le Gouar, P.J., Schekkerman, H., van der Jeugd, H.P., Boele, A., van Harxen, R., Fuchs, P., Stroeken, P. and van Noordwijk, A.J. (2011). Long-term trends in survival of a declining population: the case of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) in the Netherlands. Oecologia. 166: 369-379. Close ).