These tiny owls are restricted to dense Cynometra stands on red-sand soils in the A-S forest. Whilst the forest is protected there is still a lot of "tree-poaching" which targets the few large and scarce Brachylaena trees in which these rare owls are believed to nest.

A small hand torch was used to constrict this bird's pupils to protect its delicate eyes prior to the flash being used. Due to my proximity to the bird the flash output was diffused through a handekerchief. The bird was unperturbed by our presence continuing to hunt and returning to the same perch during our 10 minute stay. It appeared to be hunting beetles.