The
brown wood owl (
Strix leptogrammica) is found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan, and south China. The brown wood owl is a resident breeder in south Asia. This species is a part of the family of owls known as typical owls (Strigidae), which contains most species of owl. It belongs to the earless owl genus
Strix.
The brown wood owl is medium large (45–57 cm), with upperparts uniformly dark brown, with faint white spotting on the shoulders. The underparts are buff with brown streaking. The facial disc is brown or rufous, edged with white and without concentric barring, and the eyes are dark brown. There is a white neckband. The sexes are similar in appearance.
Their call is a
(hoo) hoo hoo HOO, or a deep
goke-goke-ga-LOOO, or a loud scream. Their alarm call is a bark,
wow-wow. Some subspecies are known to produce distinct vocalizations; they are also different in appearance and parapatric, and might be distinct species: The northern
Strix (leptogrammica) newarensis group (
Himalayan wood-owl; present subspecies
newarensis,
ticehursti,
laotiana and
caligata) which occur from the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir east to Taiwan have a soft low
to-hooh not unlike a rock dove cooing.
S. (l.) bartelsi (
Bartels´s wood-owl),
Javan wood-owl from Java, the southeasternmost taxon, has a loud, forceful, single
HOOH! with long pauses between calls.
This species is highly nocturnal and is commonly found in dense forests. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is roosting in a tree. The diet of the brown wood owl consists mainly of small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Subspecies: There are 14 subspecies.
- S. leptogrammica bartelsi - Bartel´s wood-owl or Javan brown wood owl
- S. leptogrammica caligata - Formosan brown wood owl
- S. leptogrammica chaseni
- S. leptogrammica indranee
- S. leptogrammica laotiana
- S. leptogrammica leptogrammica
- S. leptogrammica maingayi
- S. leptogrammica myrtha
- S. leptogrammica newarensis - Himalayan wood-owl
- S. leptogrammica niasensis
- S. leptogrammica nyctiphasma
- S. leptogrammica ochrogenys - Sri Lankan wood owl
- S. leptogrammica ticehursti
- S. leptogrammica vaga