A very small owlet, its facial disc is light grey with whitish markings and short white eyebrows.
The pearl-spotted owlet is a common and easily seen bird in open woodland and savannah.
Although related to owls, their closest relatives are the oilbirds, potoos, owlet-nightjars, and true nightjars.
The long-whiskered owlet is mainly brown with a whitish belly and eyebrow.
However, at, it is slightly heavier than the long-whiskered owlet and the elf owl.
When food stressed or nesting in close proximity, adult burrowing owls will sometimes capture owlets from other nests to cannibalize or feed to their own young.
Because so few of these owlets are known it is most likely that they are near threatened or rare.
Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon.
