I captured this beautiful species in my camera at the Kanha Wildlife Century. We has just stopped for getting a glimpse of a female tiger, who was far across, on the other side of the lake, resting.
Due to low light in front of the owl and very bright sky light behind, this was a tricky shot to take. Thanks to my Sony Alpha 9M2 & Alpha 7R-V, which is amazing cameras for low light conditions, I was able to get this shot.
The brown fish owl is found in the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and adjoining regions. Typical habitat of brown fish owls is forest and woodland bordering streams, lakes or rice fields. It inhabits mainly the lowlands, from open woodland to dense forest as well as in plantations and the Himalayan foothills, not exceeding 1.500 meters from sea level.
This owl frequently spends the day in stands of bamboo or other large shady trees. They are found around water reservoirs, along canals, on the outskirts of villages and along sea coasts. Western birds are found in semiarid landscape and may breed in oases in arid regions. Regardless of habitat, it rarely strays far from larger bodies of water such as rivers and lakes.
Brown Fish Owls feed mainly on fish, frogs and crabs, but will also take rodents, birds, reptiles and large beetles. Hunts by watching for prey from a perch overlooking water - such as a stump or rock on the edge or in the middle of a stream.