The tawny fish owl (Ketupa flavipes)
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Like other fish owls, the tawny fish owl has large ear tufts but they usually hang to the sides of the head and are distinctly messy and tousled looking. They have yellow eyes. Tawny fish owls have been described as the most "attractive" of the fish owls.[6] They tend to be an orangey-rufous color on the crown and upperparts, which are overlaid with broad, blackish markings on the central part of the feathers and spots of the same color as the reddish-brown feather edges. The scapulars are a dingy yellow color, forming a contrasting band which runs across the owl's shoulders. The flight and tail feathers are strongly barred dark brown and buffish. The facial disc is poorly defined but a sizeable off-white area on the eyebrows and forehead stands out. While buffy and brown fish owls are featherless on their legs and the Blakiston's fish owl (B. blakistoni) has totally feathered legs (the latter more like most Bubo), the tawny fish owl has feathering over two-thirds of the tarsi. The legs below feathering are greenish-yellow with greyish-horn coloured talons. Beside the variability of the feathering of the legs, the buffy fish owl is most similar in plumage but is smaller and buff hued rather than orange-rufous hued. The brown fish owl is a much more solid brown color with distinct vermiculations below and no yellowish band across the back.
Compared to eagle owls of similar length, fish owls tend to be even shorter in tail length and even heavier in build, have relatively larger wings (the tawny and Blakiston's being particularly chunky in shape), have considerably longer legs, and have a rough texture to the bottom of their toes. At least the latter two features are clear adaptations to aid these owls in capturing fish. Diurnal raptors who feed largely on fish have similar, if not identical, rough texture under their toes, which helps these birds grasp slippery fish. Unlike diurnal raptors who capture fish such as the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) as compared to most terrestrial raptors, the fish owls have large, powerful, and curved talons and a longitudinal sharp keel sitting under the middle claw with all having sharp cutting edges that are very much like those of eagle owls. Also, unlike many fish-eating diurnal raptors, fish owl will not submerge any part of their body while hunting, preferring only to put their feet into the water, although fish owls will hunt on foot, wading into the shallows. Unlike most owls, the feathers of fish owls are not soft to the touch and they lack the comb and hair-like fringes to the primaries, which allow other owls to fly silently in order to ambush their prey. Due to the lack of these feather-specializations, fish owl wing beats make sounds. The lack of a deep facial disc in fish owls is another indication of the unimportance of sound relative to vision in these owls, as facial disc depth (as well as inner ear size) are directly related to how important sound is to an owl's hunting behavior. Similar adaptations, such as unwillingness to submerge beyond their legs and lack of sound-muffling feathers are also seen in the African fishing owls, which do not seem to be directly related. Tawny fish owls are around the same size as the brown fish owl in terms of linear dimensions. The tawny is 48 to 61 cm (19 to 24 in) long from bill to tail. However, studies have revealed the tawny is surprisingly rather heavier on average than the brown fish owl and, less surprising, is considerably heavier than an eagle owl of comparable length. Six adult tawny fish owls were found to weigh an average of 2,415 g (5.324 lb), with a reported range of 2,050 to 2,650 g (4.52 to 5.84 lb), and are thus one of the heaviest living owl species. Only the Blakiston's fish owl and a majority of races of Eurasian eagle owl (B. bubo) are heavier on average. The maximum (not average) weight of Verreaux's eagle owls (B. lacteus) and snowy owls (B. scandiacus) are also higher but those species have far larger sample sizes of body mass. In terms of standard measurements, the wing chord is 410 to 477 mm (16.1 to 18.8 in), the tail is 215 to 227 mm (8.5 to 8.9 in), the tarsus is 60 to 67 mm (2.4 to 2.6 in) and the bill is 48 to 52 mm (1.9 to 2.0 in). Compared to the brown fish owl, the tawny averages of similar tail length, is larger in size by average wing length and bill size and slightly smaller in tarsal length.
The tawny fish owl (Ketupa flavipes)
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for regular updates .
Like other fish owls, the tawny fish owl has large ear tufts but they usually hang to the sides of the head and are distinctly messy and tousled looking. They have yellow eyes. Tawny fish owls have been described as the most "attractive" of the fish owls.[6] They tend to be an orangey-rufous color on the crown and upperparts, which are overlaid with broad, blackish markings on the central part of the feathers and spots of the same color as the reddish-brown feather edges. The scapulars are a dingy yellow color, forming a contrasting band which runs across the owl's shoulders. The flight and tail feathers are strongly barred dark brown and buffish. The facial disc is poorly defined but a sizeable off-white area on the eyebrows and forehead stands out. While buffy and brown fish owls are featherless on their legs and the Blakiston's fish owl (B. blakistoni) has totally feathered legs (the latter more like most Bubo), the tawny fish owl has feathering over two-thirds of the tarsi. The legs below feathering are greenish-yellow with greyish-horn coloured talons. Beside the variability of the feathering of the legs, the buffy fish owl is most similar in plumage but is smaller and buff hued rather than orange-rufous hued. The brown fish owl is a much more solid brown color with distinct vermiculations below and no yellowish band across the back.
Compared to eagle owls of similar length, fish owls tend to be even shorter in tail length and even heavier in build, have relatively larger wings (the tawny and Blakiston's being particularly chunky in shape), have considerably longer legs, and have a rough texture to the bottom of their toes. At least the latter two features are clear adaptations to aid these owls in capturing fish. Diurnal raptors who feed largely on fish have similar, if not identical, rough texture under their toes, which helps these birds grasp slippery fish. Unlike diurnal raptors who capture fish such as the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) as compared to most terrestrial raptors, the fish owls have large, powerful, and curved talons and a longitudinal sharp keel sitting under the middle claw with all having sharp cutting edges that are very much like those of eagle owls. Also, unlike many fish-eating diurnal raptors, fish owl will not submerge any part of their body while hunting, preferring only to put their feet into the water, although fish owls will hunt on foot, wading into the shallows. Unlike most owls, the feathers of fish owls are not soft to the touch and they lack the comb and hair-like fringes to the primaries, which allow other owls to fly silently in order to ambush their prey. Due to the lack of these feather-specializations, fish owl wing beats make sounds. The lack of a deep facial disc in fish owls is another indication of the unimportance of sound relative to vision in these owls, as facial disc depth (as well as inner ear size) are directly related to how important sound is to an owl's hunting behavior. Similar adaptations, such as unwillingness to submerge beyond their legs and lack of sound-muffling feathers are also seen in the African fishing owls, which do not seem to be directly related. Tawny fish owls are around the same size as the brown fish owl in terms of linear dimensions. The tawny is 48 to 61 cm (19 to 24 in) long from bill to tail. However, studies have revealed the tawny is surprisingly rather heavier on average than the brown fish owl and, less surprising, is considerably heavier than an eagle owl of comparable length. Six adult tawny fish owls were found to weigh an average of 2,415 g (5.324 lb), with a reported range of 2,050 to 2,650 g (4.52 to 5.84 lb), and are thus one of the heaviest living owl species. Only the Blakiston's fish owl and a majority of races of Eurasian eagle owl (B. bubo) are heavier on average. The maximum (not average) weight of Verreaux's eagle owls (B. lacteus) and snowy owls (B. scandiacus) are also higher but those species have far larger sample sizes of body mass. In terms of standard measurements, the wing chord is 410 to 477 mm (16.1 to 18.8 in), the tail is 215 to 227 mm (8.5 to 8.9 in), the tarsus is 60 to 67 mm (2.4 to 2.6 in) and the bill is 48 to 52 mm (1.9 to 2.0 in). Compared to the brown fish owl, the tawny averages of similar tail length, is larger in size by average wing length and bill size and slightly smaller in tarsal length.