An Oriental Scops Owl in hunting mode!
A small owl - maybe around 15-20 cms tall and a very beautiful creature. A lifer and something I had been trying to sight for a long time. These are old-world birds and come in two morphs, Reddish/Rufous (uncommon) and the greyish - more common.
Scops Owls are in general (in our region) birds of the night and very hard to sight during day time. Maybe on an occasional cloudy day one could get lucky during dusk or dawn. These are found in deciduous or mixed forests, woodlands and maybe orchards. In South India, these are largely resident, but in the North, they are part migratory. The birds feed on rodents, small birds, lizards and geckos. We had to check this late night in the forest to get a view. And we were not disappointed - there were several of them calling at the same time!
Thank you so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.
An Oriental Scops Owl in hunting mode!
A small owl - maybe around 15-20 cms tall and a very beautiful creature. A lifer and something I had been trying to sight for a long time. These are old-world birds and come in two morphs, Reddish/Rufous (uncommon) and the greyish - more common.
Scops Owls are in general (in our region) birds of the night and very hard to sight during day time. Maybe on an occasional cloudy day one could get lucky during dusk or dawn. These are found in deciduous or mixed forests, woodlands and maybe orchards. In South India, these are largely resident, but in the North, they are part migratory. The birds feed on rodents, small birds, lizards and geckos. We had to check this late night in the forest to get a view. And we were not disappointed - there were several of them calling at the same time!
Thank you so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.