Tengmalm's owl
Aegolius funereus
A small forest owl with yellow eyes, a round facial disc and no ear tufts. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident and breeder on the 2024 national bird checklist.
Overview
What is Tengmalm's owl
Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) is a small forest owl (family Strigidae) confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia codes it YR-R: a breeder present throughout the year. Seasonality is classed as high-quality (code A). Occurrence quality is high (H), with photographs, a published source and a museum specimen. SABUKO lists the Georgian name ბუკიოტი; მიკიოტი and ომიდი are also used. The 2024 checklist English name is Tengmalm’s Owl; IOC uses Boreal Owl. Adults are often about 21–28 cm long at species level, with no ear tufts and yellow eyes. It is not a threat to people. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The 2024 checklist assigns the same category nationally.
Last updated
Gallery
Tengmalm's owl in photos
Photo: Francesco Veronesi
Oulu, Finland ·
Photo: Christoph Moning
Lindberg, Germany ·
Photo: Bouke ten Cate
Innlandet, Norway ·
Photo: Bouke ten Cate
Norway ·
Identification
How to identify Tengmalm's owl
A small compact forest owl with no ear tufts, yellow eyes and a complete round facial disc. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident on the 2024 checklist. The usual confusion is little owl and Eurasian scops owl.
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Length at species level is often about 21–28 cm. The Georgian Encyclopaedia gives 21–27 cm and 120–190 g; that is an encyclopaedia range, not a measured Georgian series. Females are usually larger than males. The head is large and square; there are no ear tufts. The facial disc is complete and round, with a dark rim spotted pale. The eyes are yellow, not dark. The bill is short, hooked and pale. The toes are feathered to the claws.
- 02
The back is brown with white spots, especially on the shoulders. The underparts are pale with dark lengthways streaks or speckling. NPLG describes the Caucasian subspecies as more heavily speckled below and darker on the shoulders; field identification is to species. Juveniles at species level are darker chocolate-brown, with a pale facial eyebrow. At night the rapid whistle series is unlike tawny owl.
- 03
Little owl (Athene noctua) is also a year-round resident on the 2024 Georgian checklist; it is similar in size with yellow eyes, but the facial disc is less complete, the body is more boldly spotted, and it is often active at dusk and by day in open country. Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops) is small with ear tufts; it is a breeding migrant in Georgia and this atlas has a separate page. Tawny owl (Strix aluco) is much larger, with dark eyes; this atlas has a separate page. Long-eared owl (Asio otus) is larger, with long ear tufts and orange eyes. Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is much larger. Barn owl (Tyto alba) has a heart-shaped face and is pale; it is on the 2014 Red List.
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It is not a threat to people. Do not handle it. A small yellow-eyed owl without ear tufts giving a rapid series of whistles at night in Georgian woodland is this species, not eagle-owl.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look in woodland — not on open steppe or treeless plateau. This page does not colour a municipality-by-municipality map. The 2024 checklist confirms country-level resident status but does not publish a regional gazetteer. NPLG records the species in the Caucasus, including Georgia, in both coniferous and deciduous forest. The Georgian Encyclopaedia describes it as scarce and rare in Georgia, in coniferous and mixed forest and also anthropogenic landscape, reaching about 1,200 m; that is an encyclopaedia figure, not a measured national elevation ceiling on this page. Species-level habitat is boreal or subalpine forest, often coniferous or mixed, with cavities for nesting. Do not assume it evenly across the whole country. The atlas map is left uncoloured until named Georgian localities are taken from sources that actually list them.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Across the range the main prey is small forest mammals, especially voles, mice and shrews. Small birds are also taken. Prey share tracks rodent cycles. Asymmetric ear openings give precise hearing, so prey can be located under leaf litter or snow. Prey is usually swallowed whole; indigestible remains are later regurgitated as pellets. That is species-level diet, not a measured Georgian menu.
Behavior
It is mainly active at night. By day it hides in the canopy or a cavity; it is often heard before it is seen. It is territorial. The male territorial song is a rapid series of even whistles (“po-po-po”), lasting a few seconds and often repeated; it is unlike the quavering hoot of tawny owl. Nesting is in a tree hole; at species level this is often an old cavity of another bird, including woodpeckers; nest boxes are used. The Georgian Encyclopaedia gives clutches of 4–6 eggs in April and incubation of about one month; those are encyclopaedia figures, not a Georgian nest sample on this page. Elsewhere clutch size tracks vole abundance. The 2024 checklist treats the species as a year-round resident in Georgia: it is not classed as a long-distance seasonal migrant. Irruptive movements are known in northern populations when prey crashes — that is not the Georgian status. Do not handle it.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Aegolius funereus as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The 2024 Georgian checklist assigns LC globally and nationally. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Resolution No. 190); among owls that list includes barn owl (Tyto alba, EN D1). A Georgian population trend is not measured on this page. The Georgian Encyclopaedia treats the species as scarce and rare in Georgia; that is an encyclopaedia judgement, not an IUCN national category. Documented pressures at species level include loss of old forest and cavity trees; that is not a ranked national threat list for Georgia. It is listed on CITES Appendix II, so international trade is regulated. Do not catch wild birds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Tengmalm's owl.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia treats it as a confirmed year-round resident (YR-R): a breeder present all year. Evidence is photographs, a published source and a museum specimen.
In woodland, especially coniferous or mixed mountain forest. This page has no municipality list and does not colour a regional map. Presence is confirmed at country level, not by region.
Small size, no ear tufts, yellow eyes, a complete round facial disc, white-spotted back. At night listen for a rapid series of even whistles. Eurasian scops owl has ear tufts; tawny owl has dark eyes and is larger.
About 21–28 cm long at species level. The Georgian Encyclopaedia gives 21–27 cm. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
Mainly small mammals, especially rodents; also small birds. Diet in Georgia is not separately studied on this page.
All year, according to the 2024 checklist. It is not treated there as a passage migrant or winter visitor only. It is easiest to detect at night by voice.
Yes. YR-R on the 2024 checklist means a breeding resident. The nest is usually a tree hole. Georgian clutch dates are not tabulated here.
It is not venomous. Do not approach. It is Least Concern globally and nationally on the 2024 checklist. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Do not catch wild birds.
- Budagashvili & Javakhishvili 2024 — The birds of Georgia (Sandgrouse 46)
- SABUKO — Bird checklist
- BirdLife DataZone — Boreal Owl
- IUCN Red List — Aegolius funereus
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- NPLG Wiki Dictionaries — ბუკიოტი
- ქართული ენციკლოპედია — ბუკიოტი
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- Hayward & Hayward — Birds of the World (Aegolius funereus)
- ITIS — Aegolius funereus caucasicus
- Wikimedia Commons — Tengmalm's Owl, Oulu (Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — A. f. funereus, Lindberg (Christoph Moning, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — nest cavity, Innlandet (Bouke ten Cate, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Tengmalm's owl (Bouke ten Cate, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons / xeno-canto XC103673 — Aegolius funereus (Alexander Kürthy, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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