Abstract
The Spotted Owlet Athene brama is a common nocturnal raptor widely distributed in the Indian Subcontinent and neighbouring regions. Though subject to some studies, there is only fragmentary data available on its behaviour. Hence, we undertook a study in an urban habitat to construct a comprehensive behavioural ethogram of the species. A pair of Spotted Owlets with two juveniles was observed near their nesting site in the Fergusson College campus, Pune. Following the focal animal sampling method, the owlets were observed for 303 hrs (89 nights during pre-mating and mating, and 214 nights during post-mating periods). A total of 34 behaviours were compiled and classified into 10 functional groups, and a maximum number of behaviours(11) were recorded for the functional group Comfort and Maintenance. Out of the 50 mating/mounting events observed, 12%(n=6) involved ritual feeding before mating/mounting, and 88%(n=44) were direct mounting/mating instances. The availability of baseline information that defines each behaviour would be important for further quantitative studies.
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