The owl that vanished for a century due to a stolen bird

Nature · Published 20 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For over 100 years, the forest owlet was considered a ghost of the Indian wilderness. Its disappearance wasn't just a natural tragedy; it was fueled by a museum heist and a deliberate act of scientific fraud that misled researchers for generations.

The forest owlet (Athene blewitti) was first described in 1873 by Allan Octavian Hume. However, after the species was not sighted again after 1884, it was officially declared extinct. This long period of absence was partially due to a deception: a specimen claimed to be from Gujarat in 1914 was actually stolen from the British Museum by Richard Meinertzhagen. He resubmitted the bird with falsified locality data, leading researchers to waste years searching the wrong region. The original description by Hume noted its smaller head compared to other Athene species. He also observed a more pronounced notch in its lower mandible. These distinct physical traits led him to initially propose a unique genus for the bird. This classification was later revised by a 2018 phylogenetic study.

The species remained a mystery until 1997, when American ornithologist Pamela Rasmussen rediscovered it in the foothills of the Satpura Range. This find revealed that the bird was not gone, but merely hidden in the dense deciduous forests of central India. Today, the forest owlet is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with a population estimate of fewer than 1,000 mature individuals (some estimates suggest as few as 250).

Biologically, the forest owlet is a small, stocky bird (23 cm) characterized by a relatively large skull and beak. Unlike its relatives, it is strongly diurnal, often hunting during the day and basking on tall trees on cold winter mornings. It is a generalist predator; while lizards and skinks make up nearly 60% of its diet, it also consumes rodents, birds, and invertebrates. Its survival is currently threatened by deforestation, illegal logging, and the loss of nesting cavities in young trees.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• The UK's most common owl is vanishing, yet scientists remain unsure why.
• The ghostly hunter that traded a hoot for an eerie screech
• Why the world's most common owl genus spent a century in taxonomic confusion
• The giant flightless bird that returned from the dead after fifty years of silence
• Barn-owl genus Tyto hunts ground prey on silent wings
• This ancient surface-gliding fish has remained unchanged for over 50 million years
• The bizarre transformation of the flounder: a journey from symmetry to lopsided survival
• Why freshwater fish are among the most threatened vertebrates on the planet today
• The flathead grey mullet is a global traveler with a redundant scientific name.
• The frilled shark: a prehistoric predator with a three-year pregnancy and 300 teeth
• Why this small toad performs a dramatic back-arching display when facing a predator
• The frogfish is a master of disguise that hunts with a lightning-fast strike.

More in Vertebrates · More in Nature · Latest · A–Z · All topics