Brown Boobook

Brown hawk-like owl with large, unsettling yellow eyes. Note solid brown back, patchily brown-spotted white breast, and pale triangle above the bill. Adaptable, found in a wide range of forested habitats from primary rainforest to orchards and gardens. Most active at night and dusk; often hunts from an exposed perch. Gives a series of rising hoots: “woo-wuh! woo-wuh! woo-wuh!”

In Sri Lanka, the Brown Boobook typically inhabits lowland forested areas, including rainforests, mangroves, plantations, and even tree-lined residential areas, often near streams or other waterways; essentially, anywhere with dense vegetation providing cover for hunting and roosting.

In Sri Lanka, the Brown Boobook primarily feeds on a diet consisting of large insects like beetles, grasshoppers, moths, and dragonflies, alongside small vertebrates including frogs, lizards, small birds, and even small mammals like bats; occasionally also taking crabs depending on availability.