Size: 45-57cm. Weight; 500-700g.

Habitat and Distribution: Dense lowland tropical forests in south Asia, from India and Sri Lanka east to western Indonesia and south China.

Age: 8-10 years

Groups and Breeding: Little is known about this secretive and elusive owl. It breeds from January to April and builds nests in tree cavities or forked branches, where it lays 1-2 eggs which are incubated for 30-33 days.

Diet: Small mammals, birds and reptiles.

• These owls have a few calls including a stereotypic hoo hoo HOO to the alarm call wow wow and a deep goke-goke-ga-LOOO.
• This is a shy owl and can be quite a difficult owl to find in the wild as it is fully nocturnal and lives in deep forest; because of this it is often located by the smaller birds that mob it whilst roosting in the trees.
• The Strix genus is part of a group of owls known as ‘earless’ owls. This does not mean that it has no ears; merely that it has no ear tufts.