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!
Well I really appreciate the effort you put into this. It’s so much fun to read these posts and learn about owls I would never have known existed otherwise. Like, somehow I could always imagine like sparrows being this diverse, but it would never have occurred to me that owls are as well.
Ironically, what I do giving them exposure is probably what an owl would want the least…their whole thing is being unseen and unheard, and I go around messing it up every day! 😅
I’m glad you enjoy it, I know I’ve learned more than I thought possible about them too.