THOOTHUKUDI: Long-eared owl (Asio otus), belonging to the North American continent, has been spotted for the first time in south India. Ornithologists attribute its mysterious presence in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris to the changing climate patterns across the world. The bird was spotted by N Kanan, a birder, during an excursion in Kothagiri Hills.
Kanan noticed a bird take flight as he was moving on Kothagiri-Yabbanadu road. "I thought it was a brown wood owl, but on a closer watch, found it to be a long-eared owl. It had long ear tufts and large yellow eyes," he told TNIE. The long-eared owl is a northern hemisphere bird, which usually resides across North America and Eurasia. Isolated groups of long-eared owls were previously spotted in North and East Africa, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. This nocturnal species roosts in dense forests such as coniferous forests, and forage over grasslands for small prey.
C Siva, an owl researcher from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) told TNIE that as many as 34 owl species are present in India. The spotted owlet, Indian scops owl, oriental scops owl, barn owl, mottled wood owl, Indian eagle owl, brown fish owl, and brown wood owl are found in the country. The short-eared owls found in north Indian states, migrate to south India frequently. However, long-eared owls have not been recorded before, he said.
Confirming it as the very first recording in the south Indian peninsular, H Byju from the Centre for Advanced Studies at Annamalai University, who conducts research into migratory birds, told TNIE that the sighting is mysterious as generally, the owls do not migrate long distances. "As we have no record of sighting a long-eared owl previously in the south Indian states, it must be the very first bird to be recorded," he said.
Globally, there are nine major migration flyways, and India along with 30 other countries, falls on the central-Asian flyway. "Due to the impact of the changing climate patterns, several birds change migration flyways. So, the influence of climate change on the mysterious presence of North American long-eared owls on the Indian peninsula can not be ruled out," he said.