Brown Wood Owl    Strix  leptogrammica

Etymology:

• Strix : Latin word for screech owl believed to suck the blood of infants.
• Leptogrammica : Greek word leptos- delicate, fine ; grammikos –linear, lined.

Vernacular Names:  Nepal: Bulaka, Lepcha: Mik dab bru, Mal: Kollik kuravan, Hindi: Bhura Jungli ghuggu

Distribution in India: Resident of Himalayas ,North East ,Western Ghats and Easter Ghats in India

Description: Size of 39–55 cm, wt. of 800–1100 g, wing span of 395–442 m. It has a whitish to light rufous-brown facial disc with broad black ring around eyes. It has whitish eyebrows, occasionally with rufous tint; crown is dark brown; upperparts are lighter chestnut-brown, with some white or pale barring on scapulars and on wings and tail. The chin is dark brown; throat and underparts are white to buffy, breast is often brown, all with thin, indistinct brown barring. The tarsus is fully feathered and irides are dark brown. The cere is bluish-grey; bill is greenish-horn; toes are bluish-grey to pale leaden. Juvenileis light rufous, barred rusty, wings darker with dark rufous bars, underparts pale buff with faint bars.

Habitat: It is found in forest, usually dense and undisturbed, generally avoiding areas of human habitation. It is found from 750 to 2000 m.

Food habits: It eats small mammals, rodents, shrews, small birds, reptiles, large insects and fish.

Breeding habits: They breed in Jan–Mar in South India and Sri Lanka and Feb–Apr in Himalayas. They nest in cavity of tree,  on rock ledge on cliff face, in cave, a scrape on ground and at base of tree or rock. They lay a clutch of 1-2 eggs. The incubation period is 30 days.