Spotted Owlet - Subspecies

Subspecies

Early workers sometimes treated members of this species group as subspecies of Athene noctua. The two have been separated but they are considered to form a superspecies complex. Several subspecies have been described and about four or five are widely accepted (the race poikila is invalid and refers to Aegolius funereus A. b. fryi of southern India described by Stuart Baker and A. b. mayri described by Deignan from northern Thailand are not usually recognized.). The five widely recognized subspecies are albida Koelz, 1950 of western Asia in Iran and Pakistan; indica (Franklin, 1831) of northern India; brama (Temminck, 1821) of southern India which is darker than indica; ultra Ripley, 1948 (not always recognized) of northeastern India is said to have the white spots on mantle much and "higher pitched calls"; and pulchra Hume, 1873 of Southeast Asia from Myanmar and Thailand extending into Cambodia and Vietnam. The northern and southern Indian populations intergrade and there is no dividing boundary. The northern indica populations have the upperparts brownish. Size decreases from North to South. The species is not found in Sri Lanka, although birds on the Indian mainland are found even at the tip of Rameshwaram.