Key Features: Flight Habitat: Near perennial water bodies, forested river banks  Rufous-brown plumage is streaked with black. with ravines; canals with well wooded earth cuttings; humid regions of evergreen forests;  Juveniles are more rufous and pale than adults. old mango and tamarind groves; in villages near  Pale below with wavy lines. perennial streams with thick vegetation.  Throat and fore-neck: Prominent white patch. Habit:  Iris: golden-yellow. Keep in pairs. Nocturnal and semi-diurnal raptor.  Eyes forward facing. Hunt at daytime in cloudy overcast weather. Perch  Flat facial disc: Not well defi ned above. in the foliage of lofty trees during day.  Horizontal ear tufts or ‘horns’ on the crown. Distribution:  Bill: Grayish - greenish, hooked. Indian Subcontinent and Continental Asia. Sholas  Wings: Rounded; short of tail. 6th primary in Western Ghats; in Kokan and plains with forested longest. areas near water; Terai, bhabar, duns and duars in submontane Himalayas. Up t0 1500 m ASL.  Legs: Un-feathered tarsus are granular, dusky and Parent in fl ight after lifting a snake from the ground and carrying it head fi rst in the beak. yellow. Status:  Claws: Horny brown. Sharp cutting edge Resident. No information available about local beneath; middle claw has a sharp keel on the movements and dispersal of young. side. TCapsionPleasehe Brown Fish-Owl resides near permamnent waterbodies and perches on rocks keeping a watch for prey.  Male smaller than female. Food: Hunt amphibians, fi sh, snakes, crabs, mollusks and arachnids. Also eat rodents and birds. Reported Taking off from the nest for fi nding food shows the agility of fl ight; Notable fl at facial disc in fl ight. to scavenge on crocodile carcass. Observation Flight of the fi sh owl is silent due to soft feathers and prey is taken by surpsrise. roosts are rocks in the middle of a water body, an overhanging branch near a river or lake or on the Nesting behaviour of adults: edge of a nulla. Take fi sh from the surface and do not dive in water. Heaps of loose pellets with crab claws, fi sh bones, frog skulls and bones, and scorpion stings, fi sh scales, are seen under favorite perches. These sre useful for the scientifi c study of the diet of the fi sh owls. Other methods are night observations and The horns are horizontal. Whitish neck patch. Under-wing in fl ight. camera traps with night vision facility. CaptionsThe avian Please angler is an accomplished fi sh eater. Pair prior to breeding. Adult excavating the nest. Male bringing snake to female.

Pellet consisting of fi sh bones. Crab shell remains. Scorpion sting, tail segments and frog bone remains in pellet. Outer-wing pattern. Male feeding the female. Female eating the snake. Female incubating.

ToadCaptions held Please in beak. Swallowing a Trinket snake. Wolf snake and Green Vine snake; Snakes are taken in summer. Tail feathers outer side. Bare tarsus are useful for catching aquatic prey; A brancher in juvenile plumage. Female taking a nap; Puffi ng the throat and panting for regulating body temperature at noon. Behavior Life of the Nestling

One week old chick. Naked tarsus of young. Egg tooth on bill-tip. Young peeping from mothers belly. Mother is lovingly feeding the young! Sleeping in the morning; Partially closed nictitating membranes; Brood patch of the female.

Parent catering a fresh snake for the baby. Four weeks old chick in the nest. Close-up of tarsus; 5-6 weeks old chick in the nest. Cautiously landing on the nest platform. Young resting in mother’s shadow at noon with the sun overhead!! Related Species:

Chicks regularly stretch their wings after 5 weeks; Outer and inner wing pattern can be seen. The 5-6 weeks old chick exercising in the nest.

Nest Etymology: Bubo ( L.), the eagle owl; zeylonsis Always near water. On bare soil, on ledge in a cliff , or earth Chick eating a frog seen on a night vision camera Tawny Fish Owl Bubo fl avipes (L.), from Ceylon; After the type locality of B. z. cuttings, ravines near lakes, streams or rivers; nest is devoid of zeylonensis. (Pande, Satish, 2009). FACT FILE: Brown Fish Owl Bubo (Ketupa) zeylonensis nesting material. In a natural tree hollow or in the cradle in the (Temminck), 1820. tree fork. In ruins. Female incubates. Male feeds female up to the fi rst two weeks after the eggs hatch. Type locality: Eastern provinces of India = Chandernagore. Huma, Human (Marathi); Aamrai ka Ghughu (Hindi); Bhootoom pecha Amazing Facts: THREATS: The tarsus are devoid of feathers, which aid them in (Bengal); Machimaar Ghuvad (Gujarati); Hoodoo (Assam); Ooman (Malyalam); In several parts of India it is illegally trapped and killed for use Babhrupinga (Sanskrit). effi ciently hunting aquatic food like fi sh, amphibians in black magic and other superstitions. Water pollution, habitat and crabs. The soles of feet have prickly scales that loss, forest felling and mining are the other threats. We have help in catching slippery fi sh and snakes. Bathe in  Size: 56 cm.  Nuptial displays: Flights,  Chief Editor: Satish Pande. rescued fi sh owls incapable of hunting because they were  Associate Editor and photographs: water and later spend time in drying and preening  Weight: 1105 g. mutual feeding and Satish Pande, Dr. Satish Karmalkar, blind with one eye due to previous trauma. Such owls need  Wing: calls. the wet feathers. Rotate the head rapidly in 360 Prashant Deshpande, Pramod lifelong orphanage care. Male 379 - 443 mm;  Fledging: Deshpande, Shivkumar Pednekar, degrees. In spite of its name, often eats snakes! If the Female 392 - 430 mm. Around 50 d. Rajkumar Pawar, Vijaykumar fi sh owl falls in water, it can drown. Such fi sh owls  Breeding season:  Call: Deep, eerie, Harsihchandre, Aditya Padhye, May – August; ventriloquistic, Ruturaj Yadav, Harshal Mehta. Economic importance and conservation: have been successfully rescued. up to December. moans, Hoom, Hoom.  Design: Kiran Velhankar, Fish Owl is an indicator species of undisturbed forests and  Clutch: 1 – 2 eggs. MediaNext Infoprocessors Pvt. Ltd. unpolluted water. It is protected under Indian Wild Life One clutch per year.  Copyright and Published by: Cultural aspects: Ela Foundation, C-9, Bhosale Park, (Protection) Act. Occupied habitats should be identifi ed and  Eggs: White, smooth, The Fish Owl is mentioned in the Indian Sanskrit Sahakarnagar-2, Pune 411009. Brown Fish Owl protected with the help of peoples’ participation and public roundish. 58.4 x 48.9 March, 2013. An OENSL initiative. text, Skand Purana (1000 AD). It is mentioned by the mm (Baker). www.elafoundation.org. education. An instance is on record when a nest accidentally Babhrupinga www.elafoundation.org  Order: Strigiformes.  Family: Strigidae.  Status: Resident. name of – deep brown in colour. The  Incubation: 36 – 38 d.  References: *Ali & Ripley (1969). discovered by mountaineers of ‘Mountain Quest’ while *Satish Pande. (2009) Latin Names of deep and mysteriously eerie call of the Fish Owl is Sponsored by: Indian Birds Explained. Book made rappelling was protected. The present fi le has data from this wrongly perceived as a sign of ill omen by many. and Funded by Ela Foundation. Conservation nest and is also supported by the mountaineers! One Step solution for Published by Oxford University Press trekking, Mounatineering, and Bombay Natural History Society; Through Star Gazing & All other  Recommended citation: Pande, Education & Adventure Activities. Satish (2013Indian Eagle Owl. Ela File Research Dr. Satish Pande, Dr. M.N.Mahajan, Rajkumar Pawar, Prashant Deshpande, Shivkumar Pednekar, Dr. Satish Karmalkar, Amod Moghe and Mandar Visit us at 10: 1-6. Ela Foundation, Pune. ELA FOUNDATION Bhide (Mountain Quest) did fi eld research. www.mountainquest.co.in