Typical Owls (Strigidae)

Brown Fish-owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) - HBW 5, p. 193

French: Kétoupa brun German: Fischuhu Spanish: Búho Pescador de Ceilán
Other common names: Ceylon Fish-owl, Brown Fishing-owl

Taxonomy: Strix zeylonensis J. F. Gmelin, 1788, Sri Lanka.
Genus Ketupa sometimes merged with Bubo, or treated as a subgenus. Present species then considered by some authors as forming superspecies with, or even conspecific with, B. blakistoni, but skeletal details, especially skull osteology, of latter appear identical to those of Bubo (e.g. B. bubo) and unlike Ketupa. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • semenowi Zarudny, 1905 - S Turkey, Israel (probably extinct) and N Syria to NW India.
  • leschenault (Temminck, 1820) - India (S of Himalayas) E to Myanmar (except NE) and Thailand.
  • zeylonensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) - Sri Lanka.
  • orientalis Delacour, 1926 - NE Myanmar to SE China (Guangxi, Guangdong), S to Malay Peninsula, Indochina and Hainan I.