Tawny Fish-Owl Ketupa flavipes Scientific name definitions

48–58 cm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); no data on body mass (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Large fish-owl with prominent horizontal ear tufts. Facial disc  orange-rufous with indistinct dark border; above , rich orange-rufous or tawny with broad blackish shaft streaks, scapulars and wing-coverts with much buffy colour; flight-feathers barred dark brown; tail dark brown, barred buffy; usually well-defined white throat patch; below  , orange-rufous with dark brown shaft streaks  , broadest on breast ; tarsi feathered for halfway or more at front; irides yellow; cere and bill greyish-horn, latter sometimes yellowish at tip (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); toes greenish-yellow. Distinguished from K. ketupu by larger size (wing length 410–477 mm versus 295–390 mm in ketupu (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) ), feathered tarsi, tawny versus dark-brown upperparts, and brighter orange-rufous underparts. Juvenile spotted above, streaks below more obscure.

Himalayas from NW India (Himachal), Nepal and Bhutan to NE India, E to C China and Taiwan, and S to N Bangladesh, NE Myanmar and S Indochina.

Deep, wooded ravines, stream banks and pools in heavy, old-growth broadleaf forest , preferably near running water. Radio-tagged adults in Taiwan roosted preferentially in old-growth forest along streams (2 Sun, Y.-H., Wang, Y. and Lee, C.-F. (2000). Habitat selection by Tawny Fish-Owls (Ketupa flavipes) in Taiwan. Journal of Raptor Research. 34(2): 102-107. Close ). From plains to c. 1500 m elevation in Nepal (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), occasionally to 2100 m in Himalayan foothills (3 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). The origin of the remains of one allegedly trapped at 2450 m in Arunachal Pradesh, India (4 Choudhury, A. (1998). Some new elevations records of birds from Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Forktail. 14: 71. Close ), is uncertain; species documented in that state at c. 100 m elevation in 2006 (5 Ritschard, M. and Marques, D. (2007). Tawny Fish-Owl Ketupa flavipes in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Indian Birds. 3(3): 108. Close ). Elevational range of 91 territories monitored in Taiwan 48–2407 m, with half below 700 m (6 Hong, S.-Y., Sun, Y.-H., Wu, H.-J. and Chen, C.-C. (2013). Spatial distribution of the Tawny Fish Owl Ketupa flavipes shaped by natural and man-made factors in Taiwan. Forktail. 29: 48-51. Close ).

Resident (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Diet mostly fish in many areas; also crayfish, crabs, rodents, lizards, large beetles; often kills large birds, including partridges, pheasants and junglefowl; remains of a porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) found at nest. Large sample of prey items (n = 1239) from Taiwan dominated by crabs (71·6%) and frogs (21·0%), with smaller numbers of shrimp (0·4%), insects (0·9%), fish (5·8%), rodents (0·2%) and birds (0·1%) (7 Wu, H.-J., Sun, Y.-H., Wang, Y. and Tseng, Y.-S. (2006). Food habits of Tawny Fish-Owls in Sakatang Stream, Taiwan. Journal of Raptor Research. 40(2): 111-119. Close ). Crepuscular and nocturnal; frequently diurnal, active even in bright daylight. Hunts from perch, swooping down to capture fish near surface of water.

Territorial song of male a deep, booming “whoo-huwooh”; also gives a downslurred "falling bombshell" whistle  (3 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ) and a screeching alarm call  .

Poorly known. Lays Nov–Feb in W of range. Eggs laid in old stick nest of raptor high in tree, in hollow in ravine or river bank, or atop an epiphytic fern (8 Sun, Y.-H., Wang, Y. and Arnold, K.A. (1997). Notes on a nest of the Tawny Fish-Owl (Ketupa flavipes) at Sakatang Stream, Taiwan. Journal of Raptor Research. 31(4): 387-389. Close ). Clutch size 1–2 eggs; egg size 56·0–58·8 mm × 45·3–48·3 mm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). No other information (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Formerly considered Near Threatened. In W, very rare and local to uncommon; status elsewhere very poorly known, possibly not uncommon locally. Very few observations, however, and probably rare over most of its range. Forest destruction a likely threat in much of range. In Taiwan, owls largely absent from lower-elevation forests owing to logging and human development; illegal shooting also a large problem accounting for substantial mortality (6 Hong, S.-Y., Sun, Y.-H., Wu, H.-J. and Chen, C.-C. (2013). Spatial distribution of the Tawny Fish Owl Ketupa flavipes shaped by natural and man-made factors in Taiwan. Forktail. 29: 48-51. Close ); fish-farmers in Taiwan also capture owls in leghold traps and mist nets to reduce predation on their “crop” (9 Sun, Y.-H., Wu, H.-J. and Wang, Y. (2004). Tawny Fish-Owl predation at fish farms in Taiwan. Journal of Raptor Research. 38(4): 326-333. Close ).