HAMPI: A mottled wood owl, considered as a wooded bird, is now an addition to the Hampi Daroji bird list. The bird was recorded by two birders in the region. The two bird watchers — Santosh Hampi and Shabarish G A — who was birding on Matanga hills, had a big surprise when they spotted a big owl, which was a big surprise for them.
“We were looking at small birds when we sighted a huge one moving above our heads. It appeared very unusual and we zoomed our tele lenses and were about to establish it was an owl. Later, we realised that it was a mottled wood owl and we could not believe it.
The bird is a woody species and we did not expect to find it here,” Santosh Hampi told TNIE. The ashy-coloured owl has a mark between its eyebrows on its forehead and always prefers the woody region and is synonymous with the name ‘wood owl.’ However, the way earlier sighting by Samad Kottur, author of Birds of Hampi, in 2015. “I had seen it and tried to take a picture of it in 2015, but it was not very clear,” said Samad Kottur.