Indian Scops Owl

(Otus bakkmoena)

Size(23-25cm): It is a small owl but is the largest among the scops owls.

Area: All India till 2400m in Himalayas.

Habitat: It is common in forests, orchards and cultivated fields.

(pair)

My two words: It grey-brown above and is marked with white. Underparts are either brown or grey with streaks and mottling. Like other scops owls, it also has a tufted head or ears. Both the sexes are alike.

It is generally solitary but might sometimes be spotted in pairs.

Remains silent and motionless during the day and comes in action during the dusk. It is difficult to spot because of its body colour and it habit remaining still in dark leafy branches and holes in trees throughout the day.

(In Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur)

The diet chiefly consists of lizards, rodents and insects.

A hole in a tree is used as a nesting site where 3-4 eggs are laid.

The call is single note what that it utters in a questioning tone for about 15 mins at a stretch during the night

~Arjun Basandrai