Family Typical Owls (Strigidae)
Least Concern
Dusky Eagle-owl (Bubo coromandus)
Taxonomy
French: Grand-duc de Coromandel German: Koromandeluhu Spanish: Búho de Coromandel
Taxonomy:
Strix coromanda
Latham
, 1790,Coromandel Coast, India
.No obvious close relatives. Two subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution
B. c. coromandus
(Latham, 1790) – E Pakistan, N & C India and S Nepal E to Assam and Bangladesh; apparently this race also in E China.
B. c. klossi
Robinson, 1911 – W & S Myanmar and S Thailand.
Descriptive notes
48–53 cm; no data on body mass. Large, greyish owl with prominent ear tufts rounded at tips. Pale facial disc framed by narrow black lines; above, dark brown with... read more
Voice
Song a series of deep, accelerating croaking notes, “wo wo wo wo wo-wo-wowowo”,... read more
Habitat
Open, level areas with plenty of woodland, generally near water; riparian forest, old plantations,... read more
Food and feeding
Birds, especially crows (Corvus), but ranging from pigeons and doves, parakeets, coucals (Centropus) and coraciiforms to... read more
Breeding
Lays late Nov–Apr, mainly Dec–Jan, later in S; fledglings found from early Feb. Typically lays in old stick nest of raptor,... read more
Movements
Resident, aside from "straggling" of non-breeding birds. Old records from Peninsular... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Little information (global population size and population trends unknown). Widespread but uncommon in India, more frequent... read more
Dusky Eagle Owl nesting sites
The account for this species mentions 'record of ground nesting in Bombay'. I cannot find any other mention of this in the literature and wonder whether 'Bombay' is in error for Pakistan? The bibliography includes: Mirza, Z.B. (1985) New record of Dusky Horned Owl nesting on ground. Pakistan J. Zool. 17(1): 109-110, which seems to be the only appropriate reference. I have not managed to obtain a copy of this reference so if anybody can provide more details from it I would be very grateful.
Non-arboreal nesting
See "Breeding" above. Thank you.