The Sri Lanka bay owl (''Phodilus assimilis'') is a species of

bay owl The bay owls (''Phodilus'') are a genus of Old World owls in the family Tytonidae. The defining characteristics of bay owls are their smaller bodies, in comparison to the barn owls ''Tyto'' in the same family, and their U- or V-shaped faces. The ...

in the family

Tytonidae The bird family Tytonidae, which includes the barn owls ''Tyto'' and the bay owls ''Phodilus'', is one of the two Family (biology), families of owls, the other being the true owls or typical owls, True owl, Strigidae. They are medium to large owl ...

. It is endemic to the island of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and the Western Ghats in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, South Western India. It was considered a subspecies of the Oriental bay owl (''Phodilus badius'') but is now treated as a full species due to its distinctive call, plumage and disjunct distribution. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s and subtropical or tropical high-altitude

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy

The Sri Lanka bay owl was described by the English politician and naturalist

Allan Octavian Hume Allan Octavian Hume, Order of the Bath, CB Indian Civil Service, ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British political reformer, ornithologist, civil servant and botanist who worked in British Raj, British India and was the founding spirit ...

in 1873 but it was only in 1877 that he introduced the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Phodilus assimilis''. The genus name ''Phodilus'' is from the Ancient Greek ''phōs'' for "light" or "daylight" and ''deilos'' for "timid" or "cowardly". The specific epithet '' assimilis'' is the Latin for "similar" or "like". It was earlier considered a subspecies of the Oriental bay owl ''Phodilus badius'', but now treated as a separate species based on differences in call and plumage. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''P. a. ripleyi''

Hussain Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or ...

& Reza Khan, 1978 - Western Ghats * ''P. a. assimilis'' A. O. Hume, 1877 – Central & southern

The Indian subspecies is found along the Western Ghats mostly south of Goa but as they are secretive, records are rare and their presence has often been detected only upon the discovery of injured individuals. The breeding season is in winter when the distinctive song consisting of multiple whistles with inflections can be heard.

Gallery

File:Sri Lanka bay owl KMTR 19 June 1998 trsr.jpg, ''Phodilus assimilis'' in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve File:Ceylon Bay Owl2 Abhilash Arjunan.jpg, Sri Lanka bay owl at Arippa forest, Trivandrum, Kerala, India File:Sri Lanka Bay Owl (Phodilus assimilis), Topslip, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu 2.jpg, In Top Slip, Anamalai Hills, Tamil Nadu

References

External links

EBird Species Spot MapsCalls on Xeno-CantoHandbook of the Birds of the World
Sri Lanka bay owl Birds of Sri Lanka Birds of South India Sri Lanka bay owl Taxa named by Allan Octavian Hume {{strigiformes-stub