Spotted owlet is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day in NEERI Campus. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates.

The spotted owlet (Temminck) is small (21 cm) and stocky. The upperparts are grey-brown, heavily spotted with white. The under parts are white, streaked with brown. The facial disc is pale and the iris is yellow. There is a white neckband and super cilium. Sexes are similar. The flight is deeply undulating. The nominate form is darker than the paler forms such as indica of drier region.

The breeding season is November to April. Courtship behavior includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation. The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female. They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments. The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks.

The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset. The species name brama is from the French name Chouette brame and indirectly refers to this owl's Indian habitat by way of homage to Brahma, the Hindu supreme spirit. In Hindu mythology the owl is a vahan (mode of transport) of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth.