Bird Guide

Buffy Fish Owl vs Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl

Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu)

Buffy Fish Owl

Ketupa ketupu

Large1.3 kgRiverine

The buffy fish owl is buff brown with darker tawny brown feathers on the back. Its face is paler and it has light brown eyebrows. With an adult size of 40 to 48 cm (16 to 19 in) and a weight of 1,028 to 2,100 g (36.3 to 74.1 oz), it is the smallest fish owl species. Like all fish owls, the buffy fish owl has prominent ear tufts on the sides of its head. Its wing feathers and tail are broadly barred yellowish and dark brown. The wings are distinctly rounded in shape. The underparts are a yellowish brown, rich buff, or fulvous with broad, blackish shaft stripes. Its long legs are not feathered.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Johnny Wee · CC BY 2.0
Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl (Ketupa nipalensis)

Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl

Ketupa nipalensis

Forest

The spot-bellied eagle-owl is a large species of owl. It measures from 50 to 65 cm (20 to 26 in) in length. It is the sixth longest owl in the world on average and has the ninth longest wings of any living owl. The widely reported weight range for this species is 1.3 to 1.5 kg (2.9 to 3.3 lb), but this is probably towards the low end (possibly from K. n. blighi) or is possibly representative only of smaller males. Voice: This owl is noted for its strange, human-sounding call, and it has been suggested that it is the same as the cryptid known as ulama or "Devil Bird" in Sri Lanka. A local name is Maha Bakamuna ("large horned owl"). According to http://www.cryptozoology.com, in July 2001 it was confirmed that ulama description perfectly matches spot-bellied eagle-owl.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Lorensonowal · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Buffy Fish Owl and Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl.