The Sri Lanka bay owl (Phodilus assimilis) is a species of
bay owl in the family
Tytonidae. It is endemic to the island of
Sri Lanka and the
Western Ghats in
Kerala, 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.
The Sri Lanka bay owl was
described by the English politician and naturalist
Allan Octavian Hume in 1873 but it was only in 1877 that he introduced the
binomial namePhodilus assimilis.[3][4] 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".[5]
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.[6][7]
P. a. assimilis A. O. Hume, 1877 – Central & southern
Sri Lanka
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.[11][12]
Gallery
Phodilus assimilis in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Sri Lanka bay owl at Arippa forest, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
^Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Anderton, John C. (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol. 2. Washington D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions. p. 235.
ISBN978-84-87334-66-5.
^del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N.; Marks, J.S. (2017). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Sri Lanka Bay-owl (Phodilus assimilis)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017).
"Owls". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 23 December 2017.