Indian Scops-Owl

Medium-sized scops-owl with prominent ear tufts and dark eyes. Coloration variable, ranging from gray to brown, but dark eyes, thin black border around the facial disc, and lightly streaked underparts remain constant. Gives bouncy amphibian-like barks at changing intervals. Inhabits forests, forest edges, parks, and gardens from lowlands up into foothill and montane regions.

In Sri Lanka, the Indian Scops-Owl can be found in various wooded areas including forests, secondary woodlands, edges of rubber and tea plantations, wooded gardens, orchards, and groves around villages, often near cultivated areas; essentially anywhere with trees that provide suitable roosting spots, particularly in the lowland and mid-elevation zones of the island.

In Sri Lanka, the Indian Scops-Owl primarily feeds on a diet of large insects like beetles, grasshoppers, and moth larvae, occasionally supplementing this with small vertebrates like lizards, small rodents, and small birds, similar to its diet across its range in India and other parts of South Asia.