A Bird the Size of a Fist, With a Call That Carries
The jungle owlet (Glaucidium radiatum) measures roughly 20 centimetres from bill to tail and weighs between 75 and 110 grams, lighter than most smartphones. It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent, found across the Western Ghats, central Indian forests, the Shivalik foothills, and pockets of deciduous woodland from Rajasthan down to Sri Lanka's border. Unlike most owls, it is partly diurnal: it hunts and calls in the late afternoon, which is why birdwatchers in Satpura or Bandipur often hear its rapid, churring kurroo-kurroo before they see it perched, upright and unblinking, on a bare branch at eye level.
