Owl 8/16 February 2023 (Lifer 568/668) - Brown Fish Owl

This owl is a resident at Gunung Keriang near Jitra Kedah. This was my 4th attempt to see this bird. The MO to get it is to hunt it in the day while it roost amongst horizontal branch of the many tall trees before the Muslim cemetery. Alternatively you can  wait before dawn for it to return to roost and that is the best chance to spot the bird and  photograph it. 

The brown fish owl has prominent ear tufts and rufous brown upperparts that are heavily streaked with black or dark brown. Its underparts are buffy-fulvous to whitish, with wavy dark brown streaks and finer brown barring. Its throat is white and conspicuously puffed. Its facial disk is indistinct, the bill dark and the iris are  yellow. Its featherless feet are yellow. Two-year old brown fish owls are somewhat paler than adults. Female and male differ slightly in size.

 The calls of the buffy fish owl are described as a deep humming boom-uh-boom, a hup hup hu and a loud huhuhuhuhuhuhu.

The brown fish owl is more terrestrial than the fish eagle and consumes more invertebrates than either of those species, the eagle feeding mainly on fish followed by water birds and the eagle owl feeding mainly on mammals followed by land birds. If hungry, brown fish owls will scavenge carrion, a rare behavior for owls.