Owl too good

It was a balmy Wednesday evening when the oriental scops owl (Otus sunia) called. It wasn’t a call that’s been heard at Bamboo Rustles before. So we needed a visual to confirm it. So we shined our torches on the giant peepal tree (Ficus religiosa) where the call came from. We looked furiously. We were about to record a new bird on campus.

Like all scops owls, the oriental scops has tufted ears. It’s a small creature and sort of lacks prominent features. But its rhythmic call is unmistakeable to a keen ear. Fortunately our resident naturalist Vibish has the keenest ear around. Few thi2ngs can call in his presence and expect to go unnoticed.

The oriental scops owl is not to be mistaken for the Indian scops owl (Otus bakkamoena), which are slightly larger, but still small as far as owls go. This species has passed through here a few times.

When Vibish found it perched behind a few branches, bright yellow eyes stared back from where he shone his torch. It was, indeed, the oriental scops owl that we were looking for. The yellow eyes were proof. The Indian scops’s eyes are black.

We joined him at the spot for a glimpse at the mysterious little creature of the night and our camp manager Ameer quickly got us a picture.

No ear tufts in sight on this little one. But that’s ok. Because they’re not always prominent.

We found the oriental scops owl perched on the biggest peepal tree on campus.

Photo by Ameer S Muhammed