Brown Boobook

Ninox scutulata

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesForestCavity nestMedium · 191 g

What the Brown Boobook sounds like

Sonogram of the Brown Boobook: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Manoj Karingamadathil · Call · Choorakkattukara, Thrissur, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The brown boobook is a medium-sized owl with a length of 32 cm (13 in). It has a hawk-like shape due to its long tail and lack of a distinct facial disk. The upperparts are dark brown, with a barred tail. The underparts are whitish with reddish-brown streaking, although the subspecies found in the Andaman Islands has dark brown underparts. The eyes are large and yellow. Sexes are similar. The call is a repeated low soft, musical oo-uk ...ooo-uk.. .

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Brown Boobook

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 9 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Brown Boobook

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 17 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Japan, Mongolia.

About the Brown Boobook

The brown boobook, also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Brown Boobook vs Powerful Owl · Brown Boobook vs Elf Owl · Barking Owl vs Brown Boobook

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