Indian Eagle-Owl

The Indian eagle-owl, also called the Bengal eagle-owl or rock eagle-owl, is a large horned owl native to hilly, rocky scrub forests in the Indian subcontinent. It is splashed with brown and grey and has a white throat patch with small black stripes. The facial disc is unmarked with a black border, a feature much weaker in the Eurasian form, from which it was earlier treated as a subspecies, and the tawny tail bands are wider than the black ones. Colour varies a lot, from dark brown to pale and yellowish (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is seen in scrub and light to medium forest, especially near rocky places on the mainland south of the Himalaya and below about 1,500 m, and is usually seen in pairs. Its deep, resonant two-note booming call is heard at dawn and dusk, delivered mainly at dusk in the breeding season. Three or four creamy white eggs hatch after about 33 days, and the chicks depend on their parents for nearly six months. It has been recorded preying on flying foxes. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and a resident of open habitat that eats vertebrates and carrion, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).