This is an amazing owl I came across last night. Such wonderful coloration and texture to its appearance. It reminds me of a lightly charred log from a campfire. Nice high resolution photos too, so you can really check out all the details.

Photos and descriptions by Hari K Patibanda

Mottled Wood Owl Sighting by chance

A large owl around 50 cms tall and sighted in thick canopy cover. The Owl is exclusive to India and due to the Mottled body colors, is hard to spot without a call. It is known as a strong predator and is a true Nocturnal Owl unlike several others which are mostly twilight / crepuscular.

It was quite by chance that we came across the bird perched on a lovely tree. The day was very cloudy and that maybe the reason why the Owl was seen so late!

  • anon6789OP
    3•11 months ago

    A Shikra mobbing a Mottled Wood Owl

    Another day, another incident around the owl. The Mottled Wood Owl is a large owl found around thick woody areas in the countryside. This is a true nocturnal owl active at nights and often hard to see in the day. But we got lucky this time that the day was very cloudy till 11AM and hence the owl was still active.

    The bird was active on the rainy day and was flying from perch to perch, probably hunting. But then, the sun broke through the clouds sometimes and the Shikra which surprisingly was roosting in the same tree attacked the Owl. The Owl which wasn’t an agile flyer found itself challenged repeatedly by an agile Shikra who several times pecked the Owl on the head. The Owl had to land on bare trees and face the the Shikra at which point the aggressor landed far away. Surprisingly, the Shikra was only attacking the Owl when it was flying. This happened for a while after which the Owl disappeared into the canopy, while the Shikra went about on its day business!