Eastern Barn Owl

The eastern barn owl is part of the worldwide barn owl group. Most authorities treat all barn owls as a single species, but some, including the International Ornithologists' Union, separate the eastern birds of Asia and Australasia as their own species. Like other barn owls it is nocturnal over most of its range and hunts in complete darkness using its acute hearing (Wikipedia, general species account).

It specialises in hunting on the ground, and nearly all its food is small mammals located by sound. It is generally sedentary, and individuals often stay put even when better hunting grounds nearby become free, though Australian birds move with the seasons and with rodent plagues. Pairs mate for life. The clutch averages about four eggs, laid in a tree hollow, old building or cliff crevice, and the female incubates alone while she and the chicks are fed by the male. SoIB 2023, which treats it under the common barn owl, lists it as resident in India but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).