A barn owl casually perching on a pole.

That was what Asyraf's wife saw when she looked out the window of her flat at around 8:30am on Friday (Aug. 18).

The couple stays on the 18th floor of a Choa Chu Kang HDB block.

"My whole family felt excited to see this rare owl... My daughter and my son, who is on the autism spectrum, were the most excited," Asyraf told Mothership.

In his excitement, Asyraf took photos and a video of the owl and posted them on Facebook group Singapore Wildlife Sightings.

His Facebook post has garnered over 1,000 reactions in less than 24 hours.

Remain perched for more than 12 hours

According to Asyraf, the owl didn't really do much.

"[It] will sleep at times and wake up once in a while," he said.

Asyraf added that the owl remained perched near his window for over 12 hours.

It eventually flew off at around 8pm that day.

One wildlife photographer, David Tan, also photographed the same barn owl resting outside Asyraf's unit, and uploaded the photos onto the Singapore Wildlife Sightings' Facebook page.

One of his photos showed the owl with its eyes closed. Cute.

Barn owls in Singapore

Barn owls have a distinct white, heart-shaped face.

They can be found everywhere in the world, except in Antarctica.

While they are not common in Singapore — they are an uncommon resident, according to the Singapore Birds Project — they have been previously sighted in a range of environments here, and are well adapted to urban areas.

Top images from Asyraf N Mariani/FB. Quotes were edited for clarity.