Thanks to Abhishek Gulshan, we now realize that this is probably the Indian Scops Owl, a new sub-species that is closely related to the Collared Scops Owl. He writes: "as per the book, a Collared would be more heavily streaked as far as the underparts are concerned (not a conclusive differentiation) and is more common in the Himalayas and the north east. The best way to differentiate is the call however it may not call during the day. So assuming this, this may be an Indian Scops although orientalbirdimages still somehow goes by the old world name Collared."

Thanks, Abhishek!

The Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena) is a resident species of owl found in the southern regions of Asia from eastern Arabia through the Indian Subcontinent, except the far north, east across much of Southeast Asia to Indonesia. This species formerly included what has been split out as the Collared Scops Owl (Otus lettia). The species epithet is derived from "bakamuna", the Sinhalese name for the White Barn Owl (Tyto alba), and the Brown Fish Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis).

The Indian Scops Owl is a common resident bird in forests and other well-wooded areas. It nests in a hole in a tree, laying 3--5 eggs.

The Indian Scops Owl is a small (23--25 cm) owl, although it is one of the largest of the scops owls. Like other scops owls, it has small head tufts, or ears. The upperparts are grey or brown, depending on the morph, with faint buff spotting. The underparts are buff with fine darker streaking.

Source - Wikipedia

The Collared Scops Owl (Otus lettia) is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from northern Pakistan, northern India and the Himalayas east to south China. It is partially migratory, with some birds wintering in India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. This species was formerly considered to be included within what is now separated as the Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena).

This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.

The Collared Scops Owl is a common breeding bird in forests and other well-wooded areas. It nests in a hole in a tree, laying 3-5 eggs.

The Collared Scops Owl is a small (23--25 cm) owl, although it is the largest of the scops owls. Like other scops owls, it has small head tufts, or ears. The upperparts are grey or brown, depending on the subspecies, with faint buff spotting. The underparts are buff with fine darker streaking.

The Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that plays host to thousands of birds especially during the winter season. Over 230 species of birds are known to have made the National Park their home. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971. It is also a declared World Heritage Site.[2]

Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland and one of the national parks of India. The reserve protects Bharatpur from frequent floods, provides grazing grounds for village cattle and earlier was primarily used as a waterfowl hunting ground. The 29 km (18 mi) reserve is locally known as Ghana, and is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands. These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species,7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates.[3] Every year thousands of migratory waterfowl visit the park for wintering breeding etc. The Sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world. It is known for nesting of its resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds. The rare Siberian cranes used to winter in this park but this central population of Siberian Cranes is now extinct. According to Sir Peter Scott Keoladeo Sanctuary is the world's best bird area. (Source: Wikipedia)

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and [email protected].

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