Indian Scops Owl Facts

A small to medium-sized owl, with distinctive ear tufts. Upper-parts light sandy brown marked with black and buff, under-parts grey or rufous buff, with darker arrowhead streaks and fine vermiculations. Distinct pale collar, and dark eyes.

Otis, one of our stars, has been with us since he was an egg – in 1999. He has the best fun on occasions by going on a spider hunt in our lounge. (Those great big black ones that gallop across the carpet in the autumn.) He is exceptionally fast at catching them but watching him eat them is ghastly. All their legs are hanging out of his mouth as he munches away !! He can also catch a moth on the wing, we have watched him do it.

The Indian Scops is found in the lowlands and up to 2,200m in the Himalayas. Prefers forest and desert vegetation and groups of densely foliaged trees in gardens and mango orchards around villages and cultivation. Mainly eats insects and grasshoppers, moths and butterflies.