Eight owl species have been recorded across Guwahati in a scientific study that also identified urban noise as a major challenge in detecting the nocturnal birds, Assam Forest and Climate Change Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Wednesday.

The study, published in the journal Urban Ecosystems, documented owls in 24 of the 33 one-square-kilometre grid cells surveyed between November 2023 and July 2025.