Background:The taxonomy of the Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei) species complex is confused owing to great individual variation in plumage colouration seemingly unrelated to their distribution. Although generally recognised as a single species, vocal differences among the subspecies have been noted by field recordists. However, there is no study assessing the vocal differences among these four subspecies. Methods: We obtained 76 sound recordings of the G. brodiei species complex comprising all four subspecies. We conducted bioacoustic examinations using principal component analysis and the Isler criterion to quantitatively test species boundaries within the G. brodiei complex. In addition, we compared plumage colouration among 13 speci-mens of the G. brodiei complex deposited at the Natural History Museum at Tring, UK and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore to ascertain the presence of plumage differences across taxa. Results: We found the Bean and Sumatran populations vocally similar to each other, but distinctly different from the mainland and Taiwan populations. The vocal patt seems to corroborate plumage distinctions in the coloura-tion of neck collars: the Bean and Sumatran taxa share a white neck collar, whereas the continental and Taiwan taxa share a rufous neck collar. Conclusions: We propose the taxonomic elevation of the Sumatran and Bean populations to species level as Sunda Owlet G. sylvaticum, with one subspecies on Sumatra (G. s. sylvaticum) and Beo (G. s. beense) each. Our study corroborates the importance of bioacoustics in ascertaining species boundaries in non-passerines, and empha-sises the significance of incorporating multiple species delimitation approaches when making taxonomic decisions.