Owls

Status

Resident

Range

Throughout India in suitable habitat

Habitat

Open country, farmland, groves, old buildings and temples, cliffs — anywhere with cavities to roost and nest in and open ground to hunt over

IUCN

Least Concern

The familiar white, heart-shaped facial disc with dark eyes, golden-buff upperparts finely peppered with grey and white, and pale underparts with fine dark spotting. Now treated as a separate species from the Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) of Europe and Africa under the eBird/Clements taxonomy used here.

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Oct 2020Nallamala Forest Range, Nagarkurnool, TelanganaPerched on a rock face at dusk, looking back over its shoulder.

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Status

Resident, uncommon

Range

Western Ghats and associated hill forests of southern India; also Sri Lanka

Habitat

Dense evergreen and moist forest, typically roosting low down in tangled undergrowth or a shaded understorey tree, often near a stream

IUCN

Least Concern

A small, compact owl with a rounded, heart-ish buff facial disc bordered by blackish patches near the ear region, dark eyes rather than the pale eyes of the true bay-owls' Barn Owl relatives, and warm chestnut-buff plumage finely spotted dark above and below. The facial-disc shape recalls a Barn Owl at a glance but is rounder and the eyes are dark, not black-rimmed white.

FM0134

Feb 2020Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Ernakulam, KeralaRoosting at first light, eyes closed, chestnut-buff plumage lit warm by the low sun.

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Status

Resident in parts of the northeast and Western Ghats; winter visitor elsewhere in peninsular India

Range

Northeast India and the Western Ghats as a breeding resident; more widely across India as a passage or winter visitor

Habitat

Forest and wooded groves, both evergreen and deciduous, often in fairly dense cover

IUCN

Least Concern

A small owl with short, often barely visible ear-tufts and staring yellow eyes, occurring in grey-brown and rufous morphs. This bird is the grey-brown morph, finely vermiculated overall. Separation from other small Indian scops-owls rests mainly on eye colour and voice.

FM0135

Oct 2017Uma Maheswaram, Nagarkurnool, TelanganaPeering out from tangled undergrowth at night, yellow eyes wide open.

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Status

Resident

Range

Widespread across India, generally near water

Habitat

Large trees near rivers, tanks, canals and wetlands, roosting by day in dense cover

IUCN

Least Concern

A large, shaggy-looking owl with loosely drooping ear tufts, dull yellow eyes, and a streaked buff-brown body lacking any strong pattern on the facial disc — plainer and less richly coloured than Buffy Fish-Owl, and smaller and less rufous than Tawny Fish-Owl. As the name suggests it hunts fish and other aquatic prey, usually from a perch overhanging water, and by day roosts quietly in a large tree where it can be surprisingly approachable once found.

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Dec 2017Ananthagiri Hills, Vikarabad, TelanganaWith prey in its bill, wing raised.

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Status

Resident

Range

Northern and central India, thinning southward

Habitat

Large old trees near water — canal plantations, riverside groves, mango orchards, often close to villages

IUCN

Least Concern

Big grey-brown eagle-owl with long ear tufts, yellow eyes and fine dark shaft streaks over a fairly plain ground colour. Separated from Rock Eagle-Owl mainly by tone and habitat: Rock is warmer and more heavily marked and belongs to dry rocky ravines and scarps, while this bird wants tall trees near water. Where the habitat is ambiguous the two are genuinely difficult, which is why the frames here carry a note.

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Dec 2018Pakhal Wildlife sanctuary, Warangal Rural, TelanganaGrey-brown with fine shaft streaks and yellow eyes. Rock Eagle-Owl not fully excluded at this distance.

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Status

Resident, range-restricted within India

Range

Ladakh and the drier northwestern Himalaya and trans-Himalayan plateau

Habitat

Open, arid and rocky high-altitude terrain, often near human structures

IUCN

Least Concern

A small, compact, flat-headed owl, densely spotted white on brown above with bright yellow eyes under pale, slightly frowning brows. Active by day as well as at dusk, often perching in the open on rocks, walls or machinery rather than staying hidden — a very different habit from most owls in this group.

FM0238

Mar 2024Sela Pass, West Kameng, Arunachal PradeshPerched on rusted machinery at the pass, bright yellow eyes and spotted brown plumage lit warm.

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Status

Resident

Range

Across the plains of the subcontinent, absent from the far northeast and the wettest forest

Habitat

Dry deciduous forest, mango and tamarind groves, wooded farmland near villages

IUCN

Least Concern

No ear tufts and no yellow — the eyes are large and wholly dark, which alone separates it from every eagle-owl. The plumage is a dense vermiculation of grey, buff and black that works as camouflage against bark and dead leaf, and a bird sitting still in a tamarind can be looked at directly and missed. Often roosts in pairs.

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Jan 2018Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary, Sangareddy, Telangana

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Status

Resident, with some northern populations wintering further south

Range

Widespread across India

Habitat

Forest edge, wooded groves and plantations, often near villages; hunts flying insects and small vertebrates from a perch around dusk

IUCN

Least Concern

A hawk-like owl with a flat head and no ear-tufts, staring yellow eyes, dark brown upperparts, and whitish underparts marked with brown streaking or barring, plus a barred tail. Separation from the Andaman Boobook and Hume's Boobook rests on range and voice.

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Mar 2017Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Ernakulam, KeralaPerched upright on a bare branch, yellow eyes fixed on the camera.

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