Little owl
Athene noctua
A small compact owl with yellow eyes and no ear tufts. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident and breeder on the 2024 national bird checklist.
Overview
What is Little owl
The little owl (Athene noctua) is a small 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 photographic evidence. SABUKO lists the Georgian name ჭოტი. Adults are often about 21–23 cm long at species level, with a flat-topped head, yellow eyes and no ear tufts. It is often seen by day on posts, roofs or ruins. 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
Little owl in photos
Photo: Bouke ten Cate
Cabo de Gata, Andalusia ·
Photo: Frank Vassen
Ambula, Montenegro ·
Photo: Zeynel Cebeci
Cambazlı, Silifke, Mersin ·
Photo: Artemy Voikhansky
Haifa district ·
Identification
How to identify Little owl
A small compact owl with yellow eyes, a flat-topped head and no ear tufts. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident on the 2024 checklist. Often seen by day; the usual confusion is Eurasian scops owl, which has ear tufts and is a breeding migrant.
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Length at species level is often about 21–23 cm; wingspan in the literature is often cited around 50–56 cm; mass is often about 105–260 g. Published figures differ slightly. Females are typically heavier than males. The head is round and flat-topped, without ear tufts. The eyes are yellow. Pale “eyebrow” lines give a frowning look. The legs are relatively long for an owl; the tail is short.
- 02
Upperparts are grey-brown to brown with whitish spots and bars. Underparts are paler with darker streaks or mottling. Juveniles are fluffier and less distinctly marked. Field identification is to species. By day it often perches openly on a post, roof, wire or ruin — unlike most forest owls. The repeated nasal song is unlike the single-note whistle of Eurasian scops owl.
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Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops) is similar in size but has ear tufts and is a breeding migrant on the 2024 checklist, not a year-round resident; this atlas has a separate page. Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) is a small forest owl with no ear tufts and yellow eyes, but a larger facial disc and denser woodland habitat; this atlas has a separate page. Tawny owl (Strix aluco) is much larger, with dark eyes and no ear tufts; 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; in Georgian the name ჭოტი is sometimes wrongly used for it. 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 sitting openly by day in Georgian farmland or a village is this species, not eagle-owl.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look in open and semi-open country — not in closed dense forest. 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 treats it as a breeding bird in Georgia. Species-level habitat is farmland with trees or hedges, orchards, parks, rocky ground, steppes, semi-deserts, ruins, quarries and village edges. It often uses buildings and other human structures. Closed dense forest is less typical. Do not assume it evenly across the whole country, including high treeless alpine plateaus. A separate national elevation band for Georgia is not published here. 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 diet is mixed: insects (beetles, grasshoppers and others), earthworms and other invertebrates, plus small vertebrates — rodents, shrews, small birds, lizards and frogs. Prey is often taken from a perch by a short stoop, or by hunting on the ground. Surplus food may be cached in holes. That is species-level diet, not a measured Georgian menu.
Behavior
It is active mainly at dusk and at night, but is also often seen by day on a prominent perch. It stands upright, bobbing when alert. The male territorial song is a repeated nasal call with a rising inflection; other yelping, chattering or barking notes are given near the nest. Nesting is in a cavity: a tree hole, rock crevice, wall cavity, ruin or nest box. Species-level clutches are often about three to five white eggs; the female incubates for about four weeks, while the male brings food. Young leave the nest after several weeks. Those figures are from the wider range, not a Georgian nest sample on this page. The 2024 checklist treats the species as a year-round resident in Georgia: it is not classed as a long-distance seasonal migrant. Do not handle it.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Athene noctua 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. Documented pressures at species level in parts of the European range include loss of nest cavities, intensification of farmland and fewer insects after pesticide use; 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.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia treats it as a confirmed year-round resident and breeder (YR-R). Evidence includes photographs.
In open and semi-open places: farmland with trees, orchards, rocky ground, steppes, ruins and village edges. This page has no municipality list and does not colour a regional map. Presence is confirmed at country level, not by region.
Small size, yellow eyes, no ear tufts, spotted brown plumage. Often sits openly by day. Eurasian scops owl has ear tufts and does not stay through the Georgian winter.
About 21–23 cm long at species level; wingspan in the literature is often about 50–56 cm. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
Insects, earthworms and other invertebrates, plus small rodents, birds, lizards and frogs. Diet in Georgia is not separately studied on this page.
Year-round, according to the 2024 checklist. It hunts mainly at dusk and at night, but is often visible by day on a perch.
Yes. YR-R on the 2024 checklist means a breeding bird present throughout the year. The nest is a cavity in a tree, rock or building. 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 — Little Owl
- IUCN Red List — Athene noctua
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- NPLG Wiki Dictionaries — ჭოტი
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- Holt et al. — Birds of the World (Athene noctua)
- The Owl Pages — Little Owl
- Wikimedia Commons — Little Owl, Cabo de Gata (Bouke ten Cate, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Little Owl, Ambula (Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Little Owl, Mersin (Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Little Owl, Haifa (Artemy Voikhansky, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons / xeno-canto XC784457 — Athene noctua (GESHORS Yann, 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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