FIRST CONFIRMED OCCURRENCE OF THE BROWN WOOD OWL IN JHARKHAND, INDIA: PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION, BIOACOUSTICS VALIDATION, AND BEHAVIOURAL OBSERVATIONS FROM DALMA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
The Brown Wood Owl is forest dependent species of owl, whose distribution in the Jharkhand still remains sparsely documented. This article presents the 1st confirmed record of Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica0) from the Jharkhand, India supported by multiple encounters, clear photographic evidences, bioacoustics analysis, and behavioural studies. The species was recorded during targeted surveys, especially during night and late evening in old Sal dominated forest habitat, where individuals, and pair of male and female were observed. Subsequently, the species were photographed and call recordings were analysed. After brief discussion and reference from field guides along with robust validation from spectrograms, species were identified. In addition to it, perch selection, nocturnal behaviour pattern, and roosting posture selection were also done as behavioural observations. This record fills a significant distributional gap for S. leptogrammica in Jharkhand and highlights the likelihood of under-detected cryptic, nocturnal species in underexplored regions of old Sal forests. Integration of photographic, acoustic and behavioural studies strengthen the reliability of the record and presents the effectiveness of multi-method approaches in avian surveys and recording. The finding also highlights the ecological importance of old forest ecosystem as a potent refugia for elusive top predator species and provide important baseline for future studies on distribution, ecology, conservation, and routine nocturnal surveys in the region.
Sarkar, P., Thakur, S., Paramanik, P., Priya, S., Mahato, P., Verma, R., Kumar, A., Riya, , Guria, G., Ansari, S. A. & Pankaj, S. (2026). First Confirmed Occurrence of the Brown Wood Owl in Jharkhand, India: Photographic Documentation, Bioacoustics Validation, and Behavioural Observations from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, 02(04). https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i4.057
Sarkar, Prosenjit, et al.. "First Confirmed Occurrence of the Brown Wood Owl in Jharkhand, India: Photographic Documentation, Bioacoustics Validation, and Behavioural Observations from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, vol. 02, no. 04, 2026, pp. . doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i4.057.
Sarkar, Prosenjit, et al.. "First Confirmed Occurrence of the Brown Wood Owl in Jharkhand, India: Photographic Documentation, Bioacoustics Validation, and Behavioural Observations from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology 02, no. 04 (2026). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i4.057.
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