Birding

Owls around Delhi

April 16, 2020 by Kai Pflug 6 Comments

Traveling to Delhi for work last spring, I was not very optimistic about birding there. Still, I contacted a local guide and shot for the moon: “Can you show me any owls”? Much to my surprise, he could, all within an hour`s drive of my hotel in Delhi (which after all is a contender for the most populous city in the world, similar to Shanghai, where I live).

The Brown Fish Owl is the most common of all Fish Owls. Its ear tufts seem to be almost horizontal rather than vertical.

This Dusky Eagle Owl is blind on one eye but still seems to be doing ok. Well, it mostly hunts at night, when it is dark anyway.

This Indian Eagle Owl was relentlessly mobbed by some crows. Makes it easy to find the bird, but oh, poor owl … (and of course, difficult to get a good photo as the crows always found the owl first)

My favorite, however, was the smallest, the Spotted Owlet. And as an added bonus, it was also the easiest to see, and the most common one. Somehow, it is a perfect combination of looking both cute and fierce – even if it is just stretching its legs …

 

More owls here.

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.