Mottled wood owl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mottled wood owl |
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| Strix ocellata
Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra |
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Strix
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| Species: |
ocellata
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| Synonyms | |
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Syrnium ocellatum |
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The mottled wood owl (Strix ocellata) is a large owl found in India and Nepal. These owls often live in gardens and thin forests. You can also find them near dry thorn forests or farms. They are easy to spot because of their special, shaky calls. These calls are often heard at dawn and dusk.
The male and female owls often call together in a duet. Other sounds they make include a low hoot and a loud screech. Mottled wood owls are easy to identify. They are large, do not have "ear" tufts, and have cool circle patterns on their faces.
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What Does It Look Like?
This big owl does not have ear tufts, which are feather tufts that look like ears. Its feathers are a mix of reddish-brown and white, giving it a spotted look. Its face has fine black and white lines that go in circles. Male and female owls look very similar.
The owl's chin is white. Its eyelids are orange, and its eyes are dark brown. Its tail has thin brown and black stripes. The circle patterns on its face and the spotted top of its head help tell it apart from other owls.
There are three main types, or subspecies, of mottled wood owls. They live in slightly different areas:
- S. o. ocellata lives in southern India.
- S. o. grisescens lives in northern India, south of the Himalayas. You can find it from Pakistan to Bihar.
- S. o. grandis lives in Gujarat, India.
Where Do They Live?
Mottled wood owls live in flat areas like gardens and lightly wooded places. During the day, they rest in trees. They pick branches with lots of leaves to stay hidden. While they were once seen in Lahore, Pakistan, there are no recent reports from there. Their home range goes east into West Bengal. They are also seen in many other parts of India.
How Do They Behave?
These owls usually rest during the day, often in pairs. If someone disturbs them, they might fly even in bright sunlight. But they prefer to stay hidden in thick groups of trees. They make a spooky chuhua-aa call. The second part of this call sounds shaky.
This call is often a duet between the male and female. The male calls once or twice, then the female answers with a shorter, less shaky sound. They call more often in November when they start to get ready for breeding. Most nests are found between February and April. They also make a single hoot and a screech. This screech sounds a bit like a barn owl's call.
Mottled wood owls build their nests in tree hollows. They usually lay two to three white eggs. They eat small animals like palm squirrels and mice.
Mottled Wood Owls in Culture
Some people in Kerala, India, believe the call of the mottled wood owl is a sign of bad luck. They say the call sounds like the Malayalam words povaa-aa, which means "let us go." This makes some people think the owl is calling to the spirit world. Because of this, in Malayalam, this owl is sometimes called Kālan-kozhi. This name means "fowl of death."
