Thai National Parks

The dusky eagle-owl (Bubo coromandus) is an owl species in the family Strigidae that is widespread in South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The species's extent of occurrence is estimated at 9250000 km2.

Taxonomy

Bubo coromanda first described by John Latham in 1790 was a zoological specimen from the Coromandel Coast.

This is the nominate subspecies that occurs in South Asia. In the 20th century, the following subspecies was described:

• Bubo coromandus klossii described by Herbert C. Robinson in 1911 was an adult dark brown male eagle-owl collected in north Perak, Malaysia. This subspecies is thought to occur in Southeast Asia.

Description

The dusky eagle-owl is a large greyish-brown owl with prominent ear tufts. Its underparts are greyish white with some dark brown streaks, and its dark brown wings have some whitish streaks. It is about 58 cm in size.

Distribution and habitat

The dusky eagle-owl occurs from Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia into China.

In Peninsular Malaysia, it has been recorded in oil palm plantations during surveys carried out between autumn 2009 and 2010 in the states of Selangor, Perak, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.

Its preferred habitats are wetlands with dense tree cover.

Behaviour and ecology

The dusky eagle-owl is usually active at night and emerges from its roost shortly before sunset. In cloudy weather, it sometimes also hunts during the day.

The nesting season is from November to April.

The nest is made of sticks in the fork of the trunk of a large tree preferably near water and often in the vicinity of human habitation.

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