BIRDING AT YELAGIRI

All these great photos by Mr Ramanan

White bellied drongo - (Dicrurus caerulescens), endemic to the Indian subcontinent

Indian Robin - Copsychus fulicatus

Brahminy Starling - Sturnia pagodarum

Red whiskered bulbul - Pycnonotus jocosus

The moulting drongo at Mamandur

Drongos (Dicrurus macrocercus)) are everywhere in Mamandur, and after a while you stop paying attention to them, which is a pity because they are rather interesting, fearless and lively birds.

With their forked tails, quick swoops and darts, they are unmistakeable, and their calls are distinct as well.

They sat on the cattle, and on these goats, on the lookout for insects and grubs.

One morning though, this one caught my attention, lurking in the shadows, in what, to me, appeared very uncharacteristic of a drongo - being inactive and shy.

I was convinced it was not a drongo.  Where was the forked tail?  And what are these brown feathers on the rear?

On return, I learnt that drongos moult between June and October, in south India, losing their tail fork!  And this was most definitely a black drongo, identified with the white rictal spot.  The los of the primary feathers had revealed the colours of the inner feathers.

And so it was that I learnt something new about the black drongo.

I am sure by this time, he has got his feathers back, and is probably swooping and zipping though the foliage of Mamandur once more.

The Changeable Hawk Eagle at Mamandur

14th August 

820 am

On the forest roads of the Sri Venkateswara National Park, amidst the Red Sanders and Aapta (Bauhinia racemosa) trees, the drongos and bulbuls, we had this amazing sighting.

The Changeable Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus)  fixed us with an unwavering stare

slowly moving its gaze away, proudly displaying its crest and the characteristic streaked chest

readying its talons for take off

before swooping off over us, its yellow eyes glinting menacingly.

At that moment, I was glad I was not a rodent or jungle fowl. Imagine that four-foot wingspan coming down on you from the sky.

Found in south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, its been a while since I saw this bird of prey.

Bubo bubo vs Bubo bengalensis

Something new learnt everyday



Notes From A ‘Bubophile’

Notes From A ‘Bubophile’

Eurasian Eagle Owl or Indian Eagle Owl? ‘Bubophile’ M. Eric Ramanujam helps Sanctuary readers figure out what sets the two apart.

Photo: A. Lakshmikantan. Bubo bengalensis - The Indian Eagle Owl

Rauf Ali refers to me as a ‘bubophile’ and coming from that source I do not actually know if it is a compliment or otherwise. Even if it is meant to be sarcastic it’s okay since my friends have called me worse – owlholic, strigiomaniac and ‘ullu ka patta’ are some among the other unprintable ones. To most people who know me, I would seem to be living in a world of conundrums since I am not at all a birder (though I recognise most species of our region, waders are a nightmare). It is a fact that some of my friends who are keen birdwatchers are more than just upset with me due to my attitude and statements concerning their ‘hobby’. But I find the Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis fascinating, and would love to spend all my time collecting data, reading up on the Strigiformes or Falconiformes, analysing stuff – in fact, anything to unravel the natural history, especially the behaviour of this fascinating taxon.

Maybe herein lies the fascination for owls – the simple knowledge that nearly nothing is known about the taxon’s behaviour. Behavioural ecology is a tricky term since there are few practitioners of the science of avian ethology in the country, and the thrill and gratification lies in unraveling secrets. Once a barrier has been broken down, a pattern emerges – in some ways science is akin to forensics.

Photo: A. Lakshmikantan.  Bubo bubo

So what is so fascinating about owls? EVERYTHING! But I’d like to begin with nomenclatural controversies and further conundrums.

The holotype described as Otus bengalensis by Major James Franklin and exhibited at the Zoological Society of London in 1830-1831 was alluded to be a variety of the Great-eared Owl by Dr. John Latham, the ‘grandfather of Australian ornithology’. During the first half of the 20^th century, the foremost champion of raptor taxonomy, Georgiy Petrovich Dementiev of Russia, considered it to be a “borderline case between species and subspecies”, and though not conspecific, acknowledged that the Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo and Indian Eagle Owl were closely related. Stewart Baker, the most controversial ornithologist of his times, in his monumental work of 1927, The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, considered the taxon to be a subspecies of Bubo bubo and this view was reflected by Charles Vaurie, the American naturalist who started off as a bird painter but developed into a fully-fledged ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History. Later, the authoritative 10 volume series Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan(Volume 3) of 1969 by Dr. Sálim Ali and Sydney Dillon Ripley called the taxon the ‘Great Horned Owl’ and considered it a subspecies of Bubo bubo. In the late 1990s, a couple of American field guides by Grimmett and the Inskipps, and Kazmierczak appeared in print which began a debate on the validity of common names since they called the taxon the ‘Eurasian Eagle Owl’ but maintained it as a subspecies of Bubo bubo. Then all hell broke loose with the arrival of molecular analysis. The breakthrough came with the advent of biochemical methods, especially the present analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mcDNA, especially the cytochrome b gene) by Professor Michael Wink of Heidelberg University and his colleagues. This has ‘almost’ conclusively proved that the Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis is a distinct taxon.

For many decades, the specific identity of the taxon was a matter of debate among ornithologists and confined to the inner circles. Morphologically and behaviour wise, obvious differences were quite noticeable between Bubo bubo and Bubo bengalensis. Without delving deep into technical keys here are the most obvious differences:

1) The feathers of the facial disc are much longer in Bubo bubo resulting in an indistinct or invisible rim. In Bubo bengalensis the filament-like feathers of the facial disc are much shorter resulting in a prominent dark rim,

2) Bubo bengalensis is much smaller than Bubo bubo (which incidentally is also found in India in the Himalaya) – the revised work of Grimmett and the Inskipps gives the comparative size of the former as 48.5 cm. And 56-66 cm. for the latter,

3) The ‘long call’ or ‘song’ of the male Bubo bengalensis can be rendered as Dr. Sálim Ali put it, “a deep, resonant, hollow bu-bo (accent on the second syllable which is much prolonged).” In contrast, Bubo bubo has “a deep, resonant hoot, stressed at the beginning and dropping at the end” according to the path-breaking work of Konig and Weick. Cytochrome b sequencing has proved that Bubo bengalensis is closer to the African Spotted Eagle Owl Bubo africanus than Bubo bubo.

But the game does not end there since all taxonomists simply agree to disagree and most hedge their bets and statements. For example, Dr. Pamela Cecile Rasmussen, the eminent ornithologist, expert on Asian birds and re-discoverer of the Forest Spotted Owlet Heteroglaux blewetti mentions in her seminal work, Birds of South Asia, that the specific status of Bubo bengalensis “is not fully established”, and Grimmett and the Inskipps in their revised edition inform us that the taxon falls under the category “requiring further research and compilation of data before their justification can be reassessed.” This hedging by prominent authorities may seem to be escapist but in reality is quite justified since when debates rage among the academics, it is safe to maintain a neutral stance while acknowledging the role of molecular analysis in the reconstruction of phylogenies. To play the devil’s advocate: today, the analysis of mcDNA is central to most molecular studies concerning birds but other protein coding genes such as nuclear DNA (ncDNA) and ribosomal genes too have been earlier used to determine phylogenetic relationships in birds. This state of affairs was very poignantly brought home to me when I received a communication from a reviewer of one of my manuscripts who mentioned, “I am not saying use of B. bengalensis is incorrect, but I just want to make sure the authors are aware of these issues as conservative taxonomists may question this treatment.”

Why do taxonomists and molecular analysts get into such seemingly archaic controversies? Fortunately or unfortunately (from the point of view one adopts), the controversies and upgradation of relationships and identities are a matter of ongoing discovery and with the advent of new knowledge, they are bound to reflect the way evolutionary biology seeks to refine its boundaries as per the hierarchical position of the ‘tree of life’. Controversy is normal in the scientific world – even Charles Darwin was not spared the ire of the scientific community, but even at his nadir, he did mention that “the time will come I believe, though I shall not live to see it, when we have fairly true genealogical trees to each kingdomof nature.”

The thrill of owling continues…

Listen to the calls of the owls here: Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis.

Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo.

Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti.

African Spotted Eagle Owl Bubo africanus.

Read More: Owls Of The Forest’s Edge.

The Great Horned Owl.

Author: M. Eric Ramanujam First appeared in: Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXV No. 1, February 2015.

Owls in Auroville

All The Better To See You With

In and around the Auroville Township in Puducherry live at least six species of owls. Eric Ramanujam offers Sanctuary readers a charming introduction to these birds of darkness.

Some time back I received this note from Rajeev Bhatt, a science teacher in one of Auroville’s schools and environmental educationalist, popularly referred to as the ‘pambu atti’ (‘snake charmer’ in Tamil, because he once helped in snake rescue) - “Here are a couple of photos of the owlets that are visiting my place regularly. I identified them as the Jungle Owlet.”  All I could tell him was that they were young (mesoptiles) and to wait until the parents put in an appearance before positively identifying the species. To his credit, he did so and even took photographs – it turned out that they were Indian Scops Owls. In his defense, I must say that it is very difficult to identify young owls and when I saw my first young Indian Eagle Owl, I did not know what species it was. However, I did not jump to conclusions like an ‘expert’ (a term that one will encounter frequently in Auroville – what will happen if Rajeev stumbles upon the term ‘authority’? – one can only shudder at the mere thought).

Auroville and its Owls

In an earlier article of mine in Blackbuck, 15 years ago, I had referred to Auroville as a ‘city forest’ but knowing better now since I presently work there, it should be termed a township surrounded by a greenbelt which contains a few forest plantations of the autochthonous coastal vegetation of the Coromandel Coast, popularly and controversially known as the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. Once an environmental disaster, the wasteland that was the Auroville plateau has now been converted to a land of verdant green, albeit dominated by a number of exotics like Australian acacias and eucalyptus. It lies approximately 15 km. north of the Union Territory of Puducherry (formerly a French enclave) in Tamil Nadu and is well known for its experiments in sustainable livelihoods and technologies. It was started in 1968, the brainchild of Mira Alfassa, a Frenchwoman (reverentially referred to as the ‘Mother’) who envisaged it to be an international township and an experiment in human unity – uniquely, she never set foot on it.

Naturally, once the native pockets of forest plantations began regenerating and expanding, the wildlife returned – among them at least six species of owls.

Small and beautiful

The smallest, commonest and most easily seen species is the Spotted Owlet Athene brama (etymology: Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom, arts and war, and bramaafter Brahma – the ‘creator’ and one of the triumvirate of supreme gods in the Hindu pantheon). Unlike most owls, it is partly diurnal but mostly nocturnal and crepuscular (active during twilight and dusk). Its harsh chattering calls can sometimes be heard all day. It occurs in almost all types of vegetated areas as well as wastelands (provided there are a few Palmyras or cavities in the ravine walls - in fact anywhere where it can nest) including agricultural fields, around villages and occasionally even within human habitations provided there are some derelict buildings where it can find a suitable hollow. There is even a resident family in ‘the Banyan Tree’, the ‘Heart of Auroville’, adjacent to the Matrimandir renowned for its not very nice exterior facade. Among the owls of this place it is the one that can almost be considered a commensal of humans. I have personally encountered them in the heart of Puducherry City and a couple of nestlings were brought to me on the island on which I live, one of the most densely-populated areas (once a pirate island until Joseph Francois Dupleix (governor of Pondicherry) put an end to piracy in these parts in the mid-1700s). Though it may take the odd mouse or small rat, our studies have shown that it subsists primarily on arthropods – predominantly insects, but also spiders, scorpions and centipedes. During the breeding season in the summer months of April to July, many young fall out of their nesting cavities and it is not uncommon to find some concerned Aurovillians bringing up the orphans. Once they can fly, they are released back into the wild, and on more than half a dozen occasions I have personally watched adults that were not their natural parents, feeding the youngsters as if they were their own offspring.

Slightly larger than the Spotted Owlet is the Indian Scops Owl Otus bakkamoena(etymology: Otus after the Greek word otos meaning ‘eared owl’, and bakkamoenaafter the Sri Lankan term bakamuna for the Barn Owl or Brown Fish Owl). It was once called the ‘Collared Scops Owl’, but that term is now reserved for the species Otus lettia found in the Himalaya, Northeast India and East Bangladesh. Common in forested areas and orchards, it is rarely seen since it is strictly nocturnal and during the day its cryptic plumage blends well with the background of tree barks even when it rests outside its roosting cavity. It is easily recognised by its acoustics: one of the sexes makes a subdued whut which is usually answered by its mate’s whuk; both sexes will sometimes enter into a fast-paced duet when the calls become quite indistinct and unrecognisable (I am still to work out the sex specific call though I do not think that will happen in the near future – it would be a good opportunity for a budding biologist with an interest in avian song patterns). Though small in size, it is the most aggressive of all owls that I have come across – on many occasions when we had identified a nest with an incubating/brooding female and tried to investigate, the male attacked fearlessly, even during the day. A neighbour of ours had hand-raised an orphan that led a completely free existence. It would fly away when the light faded, but inevitably return to its roost in the house at dawn. An unfamiliar person approaching its roosting place would be unhesitatingly mobbed. For some reason I was spared any such attack when I first approached it.

Like the Spotted Owlet it feeds principally on arthropods though its diet varies depending on the type of habitat it occupies. Our studies have shown that in a forested ravine its diet comprised principally of Orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets and allies), whereas in a forested area on the plateau, termites predominated. It too is a cavity nester, but since it occurs in denser vegetated habitats the degree of competition with the Spotted Owlet is minimal though the breeding period of both species coincides.

The large ones

The largest species is the Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis (etymology: Bubo from Latin meaning Eagle Owl probably from the call, and bengalensis from Bengal after which many faunal and floral forms are named). It is also known as the Rock Horned Owl, Rock Eagle Owl, Bengal Eagle Owl and Great Horned Owl – the last term used by Dr. Sálim Ali and Ripley, but internationally accepted to be that of the American species Bubo virgianus. At one time it was considered a sub-species of the Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, but molecular analysis has proved beyond doubt that it is a species in its own right. In Auroville this species is confined to the ravines and is rarely found in vegetated areas, though in the near vicinity it is found on an isolated rocky outcropping. Over most of the Deccan it frequents hillocks and hilly areas covered with scrub, and it is my personal theory that the species adapted to life in the ravines on account of similar nesting sites. This is one of the few species of owls that is not a cavity nester, nor builds or appropriates nests of other raptors, preferring to breed in bare sheltered areas… sometimes no more than a scrape in the ground. In these areas the breeding season can start any time from the beginning of the year. The young remain with the parents until September or October, until the commencement of the monsoons. The young will stay with the parents until they are capable of hunting on their own. The primary nourishment comes from rodents and hares, though the owls also feed on birds and frogs, with the odd insect, scorpion and centipede adding grist to the mill. It is the apex predator in the ravines and will attack, kill and partly eat other owls and diurnal birds of prey – what is termed ‘intraguild aggression’, the same way early humans and large carnivores competed for the same space and food. This is my primary study subject and since I have written about it in Sanctuary Asia (http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/features/9894-notes-from-a-bubophile.html) earlier, I will not dwell on this.

A late entrant to Auroville – in fact I first came upon it only in the year 2001 – is the Mottled Wood Owl Strix ocellata (etymology: in Latin Stryx for a Screech Owl, and ocellata from ocellus meaning ‘eylet or little eye’ pertaining to the eye-like markings). This is a rare and extremely shy species, reliant on ‘old growth’ which provides large-enough nesting cavities. The owl’s presence can usually be detected only by its unique quavering ooooo-whaaaa call, usually repeated three times in a row – a call I can imitate quite reasonably and have used to dupe a gullible American one night who enthusiastically wrote about hearing the bird in her report. Strictly nocturnal, it also utters a toot at the onset of dusk. Beyond this, I personally know little of its habits and behaviour.

More owls

A rare visitor to Auroville – I have recorded it just once in Auroville’s flooded fields – is the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (etymology: Asio, from Pliny’s mention of an eared or horned owl, and flammeus from Latin meaning ‘flame coloured, flaming or fiery’). Though rare in Auroville, it is quite common during its winter migration in the famous Kaliveli floodplain a couple of kilometres north of Auroville. During its short residency, it can be observed even in broad daylight, usually sitting or walking about on the ground.  Since its period of occurrence is so short, we have not been able to gather data on the species, hence I cannot comment more on it.

One species that was said to be quite common in Auroville is the Barn Owl Tyto alba(etymology: Tyto, from the Greek tuto meaning an ‘owl’, and the Latin albusmeaning ‘white’ and pertaining to its white underparts). This is one species that I have had little opportunity to examine, in spite of it being said to be common. In Auroville township I have encountered it only on a couple of occasions in a ravine and have never seen or heard it in forested areas and human habitations bordering fields, unlike in the Cauvery Delta and other places in Tamil Nadu where it is quite abundant and has been part of ongoing studies. I find this alarming because whenever we converse with farmers in the region they all assure us that at one time it used to be quite common, but not anymore. More information has to be compiled but I suspect the indiscriminate use of pesticides could be the cause of the decline in its population.

As always there is always a silver lining to a dark cloud and we may be able to do justice to this most maligned bird – its Tamil name is ‘chavu kuruvi’, literally meaning ‘bird of death’. Our organisation, the Kaliveli Environment Education Trust, has been working in the Kaliveli watershed, in an area of over 700 sq. km. comprising wetland, fragmented forest blocks and sacred groves, farmland and rural habitation of which the township is only a small part. Twenty kilometres away from Auroville Township, on our trust land, an area of 40 or so acres has been undergoing reforestation for about a decade. We hope we will be able to piece together the natural history of the Barn Owl in this region since there is a breeding pair at the site. But an issue remains – the land is bordered by fields and assuredly the owls must be hunting for rodents in them. Problems and frustrations are part and parcel of the life of a wildlife biologist and I am under no delusions of the success of the venture. But if we can holistically unravel even the minutest detail of land use and correlate it to the diet, prey density and breeding potential of a predatory species we would have made a significant step in the right direction.

Author: Eric Ramanujam, First appeared in: Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVI No. 8, August 2016.

Owls in Auroville

All The Better To See You With

All The Better To See You With

In and around the Auroville Township in Puducherry live at least six species of owls. Eric Ramanujam offers Sanctuary readers a charming introduction to these birds of darkness.

  Photo: E. Seshan.  Short-eared owl

Some time back I received this note from Rajeev Bhatt, a science teacher in one of Auroville’s schools and environmental educationalist, popularly referred to as the ‘pambu atti’ (‘snake charmer’ in Tamil, because he once helped in snake rescue) - “Here are a couple of photos of the owlets that are visiting my place regularly. I identified them as the Jungle Owlet.”  All I could tell him was that they were young (mesoptiles) and to wait until the parents put in an appearance before positively identifying the species. To his credit, he did so and even took photographs – it turned out that they were Indian Scops Owls. In his defense, I must say that it is very difficult to identify young owls and when I saw my first young Indian Eagle Owl, I did not know what species it was. However, I did not jump to conclusions like an ‘expert’ (a term that one will encounter frequently in Auroville – what will happen if Rajeev stumbles upon the term ‘authority’? – one can only shudder at the mere thought).

Auroville and its Owls

In an earlier article of mine in Blackbuck, 15 years ago, I had referred to Auroville as a ‘city forest’ but knowing better now since I presently work there, it should be termed a township surrounded by a greenbelt which contains a few forest plantations of the autochthonous coastal vegetation of the Coromandel Coast, popularly and controversially known as the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. Once an environmental disaster, the wasteland that was the Auroville plateau has now been converted to a land of verdant green, albeit dominated by a number of exotics like Australian acacias and eucalyptus. It lies approximately 15 km. north of the Union Territory of Puducherry (formerly a French enclave) in Tamil Nadu and is well known for its experiments in sustainable livelihoods and technologies. It was started in 1968, the brainchild of Mira Alfassa, a Frenchwoman (reverentially referred to as the ‘Mother’) who envisaged it to be an international township and an experiment in human unity – uniquely, she never set foot on it.

Naturally, once the native pockets of forest plantations began regenerating and expanding, the wildlife returned – among them at least six species of owls.

Photo: Rajeev Bhatt.  India Scops Owl

Small and beautiful

The smallest, commonest and most easily seen species is the Spotted Owlet Athene brama (etymology: Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom, arts and war, and bramaafter Brahma – the ‘creator’ and one of the triumvirate of supreme gods in the Hindu pantheon). Unlike most owls, it is partly diurnal but mostly nocturnal and crepuscular (active during twilight and dusk). Its harsh chattering calls can sometimes be heard all day. It occurs in almost all types of vegetated areas as well as wastelands (provided there are a few Palmyras or cavities in the ravine walls - in fact anywhere where it can nest) including agricultural fields, around villages and occasionally even within human habitations provided there are some derelict buildings where it can find a suitable hollow. There is even a resident family in ‘the Banyan Tree’, the ‘Heart of Auroville’, adjacent to the Matrimandir renowned for its not very nice exterior facade. Among the owls of this place it is the one that can almost be considered a commensal of humans. I have personally encountered them in the heart of Puducherry City and a couple of nestlings were brought to me on the island on which I live, one of the most densely-populated areas (once a pirate island until Joseph Francois Dupleix (governor of Pondicherry) put an end to piracy in these parts in the mid-1700s). Though it may take the odd mouse or small rat, our studies have shown that it subsists primarily on arthropods – predominantly insects, but also spiders, scorpions and centipedes. During the breeding season in the summer months of April to July, many young fall out of their nesting cavities and it is not uncommon to find some concerned Aurovillians bringing up the orphans. Once they can fly, they are released back into the wild, and on more than half a dozen occasions I have personally watched adults that were not their natural parents, feeding the youngsters as if they were their own offspring.

Slightly larger than the Spotted Owlet is the Indian Scops Owl Otus bakkamoena(etymology: Otus after the Greek word otos meaning ‘eared owl’, and bakkamoenaafter the Sri Lankan term bakamuna for the Barn Owl or Brown Fish Owl). It was once called the ‘Collared Scops Owl’, but that term is now reserved for the species Otus lettia found in the Himalaya, Northeast India and East Bangladesh. Common in forested areas and orchards, it is rarely seen since it is strictly nocturnal and during the day its cryptic plumage blends well with the background of tree barks even when it rests outside its roosting cavity. It is easily recognised by its acoustics: one of the sexes makes a subdued whut which is usually answered by its mate’s whuk; both sexes will sometimes enter into a fast-paced duet when the calls become quite indistinct and unrecognisable (I am still to work out the sex specific call though I do not think that will happen in the near future – it would be a good opportunity for a budding biologist with an interest in avian song patterns). Though small in size, it is the most aggressive of all owls that I have come across – on many occasions when we had identified a nest with an incubating/brooding female and tried to investigate, the male attacked fearlessly, even during the day. A neighbour of ours had hand-raised an orphan that led a completely free existence. It would fly away when the light faded, but inevitably return to its roost in the house at dawn. An unfamiliar person approaching its roosting place would be unhesitatingly mobbed. For some reason I was spared any such attack when I first approached it.

Like the Spotted Owlet it feeds principally on arthropods though its diet varies depending on the type of habitat it occupies. Our studies have shown that in a forested ravine its diet comprised principally of Orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets and allies), whereas in a forested area on the plateau, termites predominated. It too is a cavity nester, but since it occurs in denser vegetated habitats the degree of competition with the Spotted Owlet is minimal though the breeding period of both species coincides.

Photo: E Seshan Indian Eagle Owl - Bubo bengalensis

The large ones

The largest species is the Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis (etymology: Bubo from Latin meaning Eagle Owl probably from the call, and bengalensis from Bengal after which many faunal and floral forms are named). It is also known as the Rock Horned Owl, Rock Eagle Owl, Bengal Eagle Owl and Great Horned Owl – the last term used by Dr. Sálim Ali and Ripley, but internationally accepted to be that of the American species Bubo virgianus. At one time it was considered a sub-species of the Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, but molecular analysis has proved beyond doubt that it is a species in its own right. In Auroville this species is confined to the ravines and is rarely found in vegetated areas, though in the near vicinity it is found on an isolated rocky outcropping. Over most of the Deccan it frequents hillocks and hilly areas covered with scrub, and it is my personal theory that the species adapted to life in the ravines on account of similar nesting sites. This is one of the few species of owls that is not a cavity nester, nor builds or appropriates nests of other raptors, preferring to breed in bare sheltered areas… sometimes no more than a scrape in the ground. In these areas the breeding season can start any time from the beginning of the year. The young remain with the parents until September or October, until the commencement of the monsoons. The young will stay with the parents until they are capable of hunting on their own. The primary nourishment comes from rodents and hares, though the owls also feed on birds and frogs, with the odd insect, scorpion and centipede adding grist to the mill. It is the apex predator in the ravines and will attack, kill and partly eat other owls and diurnal birds of prey – what is termed ‘intraguild aggression’, the same way early humans and large carnivores competed for the same space and food. This is my primary study subject and since I have written about it in Sanctuary Asia (http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/features/9894-notes-from-a-bubophile.html) earlier, I will not dwell on this.

A late entrant to Auroville – in fact I first came upon it only in the year 2001 – is the Mottled Wood Owl Strix ocellata (etymology: in Latin Stryx for a Screech Owl, and ocellata from ocellus meaning ‘eylet or little eye’ pertaining to the eye-like markings). This is a rare and extremely shy species, reliant on ‘old growth’ which provides large-enough nesting cavities. The owl’s presence can usually be detected only by its unique quavering ooooo-whaaaa call, usually repeated three times in a row – a call I can imitate quite reasonably and have used to dupe a gullible American one night who enthusiastically wrote about hearing the bird in her report. Strictly nocturnal, it also utters a toot at the onset of dusk. Beyond this, I personally know little of its habits and behaviour.

Photo: A. Lakshmikantan. Spotted Owlet

More owls

A rare visitor to Auroville – I have recorded it just once in Auroville’s flooded fields – is the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (etymology: Asio, from Pliny’s mention of an eared or horned owl, and flammeus from Latin meaning ‘flame coloured, flaming or fiery’). Though rare in Auroville, it is quite common during its winter migration in the famous Kaliveli floodplain a couple of kilometres north of Auroville. During its short residency, it can be observed even in broad daylight, usually sitting or walking about on the ground.  Since its period of occurrence is so short, we have not been able to gather data on the species, hence I cannot comment more on it.

One species that was said to be quite common in Auroville is the Barn Owl Tyto alba(etymology: Tyto, from the Greek tuto meaning an ‘owl’, and the Latin albusmeaning ‘white’ and pertaining to its white underparts). This is one species that I have had little opportunity to examine, in spite of it being said to be common. In Auroville township I have encountered it only on a couple of occasions in a ravine and have never seen or heard it in forested areas and human habitations bordering fields, unlike in the Cauvery Delta and other places in Tamil Nadu where it is quite abundant and has been part of ongoing studies. I find this alarming because whenever we converse with farmers in the region they all assure us that at one time it used to be quite common, but not anymore. More information has to be compiled but I suspect the indiscriminate use of pesticides could be the cause of the decline in its population.

As always there is always a silver lining to a dark cloud and we may be able to do justice to this most maligned bird – its Tamil name is ‘chavu kuruvi’, literally meaning ‘bird of death’. Our organisation, the Kaliveli Environment Education Trust, has been working in the Kaliveli watershed, in an area of over 700 sq. km. comprising wetland, fragmented forest blocks and sacred groves, farmland and rural habitation of which the township is only a small part. Twenty kilometres away from Auroville Township, on our trust land, an area of 40 or so acres has been undergoing reforestation for about a decade. We hope we will be able to piece together the natural history of the Barn Owl in this region since there is a breeding pair at the site. But an issue remains – the land is bordered by fields and assuredly the owls must be hunting for rodents in them. Problems and frustrations are part and parcel of the life of a wildlife biologist and I am under no delusions of the success of the venture. But if we can holistically unravel even the minutest detail of land use and correlate it to the diet, prey density and breeding potential of a predatory species we would have made a significant step in the right direction.

Author: Eric Ramanujam, First appeared in: Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVI No. 8, August 2016.