Photo by Wayne Geater
Stumbled upon this beautiful bird this morning. I love the coloring and the subtle speckling. Make sure you zoom in on this photo to get a good look!
This owl was discovered 2001, and was the first new bird discovered in Sri Lanka since 1868. It lives in remote rainforest, where it is the only nocturnal avian predator.
The person who finally discovered it had heard an unknown bird call and chased it for 6 years before finally finding this tiny owl.
In 2006, the population was estimated at only 80 birds. Truly rare, and I’m glad we get to see it, and hopefully it will be protected.
Do you have any thoughts on the posts of these rare owls?
A lot of them don’t seem to be popular, so I want see if you weren’t as interested since they’re unfamiliar or are they sad in that many of these might disappear in the near future, etc?
I like seeing them, since it’s likely my only opportunity to ever see then, due to how remote and rare they are. I also feel closer to nature by learning about more animals that I never even knew were there and that they need to be cared about even if I’ll never see one outside a photo.
How do you feel?