Tawny fish owl
| Tawny fish owl | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Ketupa |
| Species: | K. flavipes
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| Binomial name | |
| Ketupa flavipes (Hodgson, 1836)
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| Synonyms | |
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Cultrunguis flavipes Hodgson, 1836[2] | |
The tawny fish owl (Ketupa flavipes) is a
Taxonomy
Cultrunguis flavipes was the
Ketupa was proposed as Results of aDescription
Like other fish owls, the tawny fish owl has large ear tufts but they usually hang to the sides of the head and are distinctly messy and tousled looking. They have yellow eyes. Tawny fish owls have been described as the most "attractive" of the fish owls.[5] They tend to be an orangey-rufous color on the crown and upperparts, which are overlaid with broad, blackish markings on the central part of the feathers and spots of the same color as the reddish-brown feather edges. The scapulars are a dingy yellow color, forming a contrasting band which runs across the owl's shoulders. The flight and tail feathers are strongly barred dark brown and buffish. The facial disc is poorly defined but a sizeable off-white area on the eyebrows and forehead stands out. While buffy and brown fish owls are featherless on their legs and the Blakiston's fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni) has totally feathered legs (the latter more like most Bubo), the tawny fish owl has feathering over two-thirds of the tarsi. The legs below feathering are greenish-yellow with greyish-horn coloured talons. Beside the variability of the feathering of the legs, the buffy fish owl is most similar in plumage but is smaller and buff hued rather than orange-rufous hued. The brown fish owl is a much more solid brown color with distinct vermiculations below and no yellowish band across the back.[6]
Compared to eagle owls of similar length, fish owls tend to be even shorter in tail length and even heavier in build, have relatively larger wings (the tawny and Blakiston's being particularly chunky in shape), have considerably longer legs, and have a rough texture to the bottom of their toes. At least the latter two features are clear adaptations to aid these owls in capturing fish. Diurnal raptors who feed largely on fish have similar, if not identical, rough texture under their toes, which helps these birds grasp slippery fish. Unlike diurnal raptors who capture fish such as the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) as compared to most terrestrial raptors, the fish owls have large, powerful, and curved talons and a longitudinal sharp keel sitting under the middle claw with all having sharp cutting edges that are very much like those of eagle owls. Also, unlike many fish-eating diurnal raptors, fish owl will not submerge any part of their body while hunting, preferring only to put their feet into the water, although fish owls will hunt on foot, wading into the shallows. Unlike most owls, the feathers of fish owls are not soft to the touch
Distribution and habitat
The tawny fish owl lives in
Behaviour and ecology
The tawny fish owl's territorial call is a deep whoo-hoo. It also makes a cat-like meow.[12]
Four tawny fish owls were equipped with
The tawny fish owl is at least partially diurnal in activity, with daytime activity mainly occurring in the late afternoon and they may be seen actively hunting before nightfall especially on cloudy days. However, before the afternoon they tend to be sluggish during the day.
They usually hunt by swooping down to the water, capture fish from the surface and are reportedly surprisingly active in their hunting style and are not dissimilar in the hunting methods to those used by diurnal fish-hunting raptors such as
Tawny fish owls are highly solitary and territorial as are a majority of owls. The breeding season is November to February in India and December to February in Assam. Nest locations found have included large holes in river banks, caves in cliffs and the fork or crotch of a large tree. As in all owls, tawny fish owls do not build a nest so merely lay their eggs on the bare ground of whatever surface they use. They also not infrequently nest in abandoned nests built by Pallas's fish eagles (Haliaeetus leucoryphus). Usually two eggs are laid but sometimes only one is. The eggs can range in size from 56 to 58.8 mm (2.20 to 2.31 in) x 45.5 to 48.3 mm (1.79 to 1.90 in), with an average of 57.1 mm × 46.9 mm (2.25 in × 1.85 in), and are similar in size to those of the brown fish owl. Greater details of the reproductive biology are not currently known although are presumed to basically be similar to those of other fish owls.[6]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ a b Hodgson, B. H. (1836). "On a new Piscatory Genus of the Strigine Family". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 5: 363–365.
- ^ Lesson, R.-P. (1831). "Sous-genre. Ketupu; Ketupa". Traité d'ornithologie, ou, Tableau méthodique des ordres, sous-ordres, familles, tribus, genres, sous-genres et races d'oiseaux : ouvrage entièrement neuf, formant le catalogue le plus complet des espèces réunies dans les collections publiques de la France. Vol. 1. Paris: F. G. Levrault. p. 114.
- PMID 23211719.
- ^ a b c Hume, R. (1991). Owls of the world. Running Press, Philadelphia, PA. 1991.
- ^ ISBN 9781408108840.
- ^ a b c Voous, K.H. 1988. Owls of the Northern Hemisphere. The MIT Press, 0262220350.
- ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.
- ^ TANA, P. G., VAZQUEZ, A., & CHAVEZ, C. (1997). NOTES ON A NEST OF THE TAWNY FISH-OWL (KETUPA FLAVIPES) AT SAKATANG STREAM, TAIWAN. Wilson Bulletin, 66, 135-136.
- ^ Weick, F. (2007). Owls (Strigiformes): annotated and illustrated checklist. Springer.
- ^ Robson, C., & Allen, R. (2005). New Holland field guide to the birds of South-East Asia. New Holland Publishers.
- ISBN 9781408162651.
- JSTOR 4163875.
- ^ Sun, Y.; Wang, Y.; Lee, C. (2000). "Habitat selection by tawny fish owl (Ketupa flavipes) in Taiwan" (PDF). Journal of Raptor Research. 34 (2): 102–107.
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