A series of screeches and chuckles greeted me as I peeped out of my home. I recognised the calls of the bird, a spotted owlet. Dusk was approaching and I knew that it was the right time for the owls in our society to get active.
As I stepped out of the house, a bird swooped by over my head and settled on the ledge of our neighbour’s house. A few minutes later, another bird swooped out of the fading light and descended onto the same ledge. Two spotted owlets cuddled together peered out at me!
Walking slowly, I made my way closer to the owlets. Eventually, I was within 20 feet of them and the owlets peered down at me. Sitting cutely, cuddled together, every now and then, one of the owls would scratch the other owlet on its head with its yellow curved beak — possibly showing its affection towards its mate. They did not seem to be afraid of me and seemed to say, “We know you are a bird watcher and mean us no harm!”. Every now and then, one of the owlets would cock its head to listen to the sounds around it. “Any rats for me to eat?”, it seemed to say. The owlets sat on the ledge for five minutes allowing me to get a good look at them, before they finally flew off into the night.
Spotted owlets are small brown birds, no more than seven inches high. They have white spots on their head and body, and this is the reason behind its name, the spotted owlet. Spotted owlets are very common throughout India and are often seen in cities. They hunt for small animals like rats, frogs, snakes and even insects. Owls are friends of the farmer. By feeding on rats, they help reduce the damage that these rodents cause to stored grains.
A favourite perch for the owlet is the lamp post, on which they sit, hoping to feed on the insects that get attracted to the light. In our housing society, they build nests in small holes in the walls of houses. However, they also build nests in tree hollows.
Different cultures treat owls differently. In Hindi, a stupid person is called an ullu (which is an owl in Hindi). However, the British have a saying, ‘As wise as an owl!’ Like many other birds, owls too, face threats. In cities, declining tree cover means their nest sites are reducing. Food for the owls is reducing, too, as more and more buildings get constructed, resulting in cutting down of trees and conversion of agricultural land for residential colonies. We’d be ullus to allow bird populations to decrease in our cities! So let’s be wise instead and do our bit to help save these birds.
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