Appearance:

A medium sized, brown and long-winged owl, with long ear-tufts and deep orange eyes. Only half the size of Eagle Owl. Differs from the more similar Short-eared Owl by darker (orange) eyes, longer ear-tufts and heavily streaked lower belly. In flight, note paler wing-tips (only finely barred, not tipped black).

Sound:

Song a series of very deep, monotonous "hooooo"s, quite widely spaced. Uttered about once every 2-3 seconds. Sometimes rises in pitch, but with each "hoo" being constant. Rich repertoire of calls. Other sounds include; a nasal "eeeeeaaa" reminiscent of Collared Dove, nasal mewing and bill clicking.

Song, call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:AlexandreRoux01, Licence,Link,

Appearance:

Bulky, golden-brown heron with thick neck and short legs. Largely unmistakable but skulky behaviour makes it difficult to observe, as it generally forages hidden in reed-beds. Plumage mottled above, with coarse stripes below. Primaries and most secondaries with dark barring, in contrast to paler coverts. May recall Eagle Owl in flight with broad, rounded wings and retracted neck, but wings are bowed and legs trail behind tail. Crown and moustache stripe black in adult and brown in immature birds. Betrays its presence by it's far reaching song.

Sound:

Flight call a deep croaking "graat". Song unmistakable and far reaching (up to 5 km). Pitch very deep, with timbre similar to blowing on a big empty bottle. At close range an "inbreath" is also audible (1-3 dampened, higher pitched introductory notes).

Song (note; recording not audible on small mobile devices):

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:littlew, Licence,Link.