Mystery Bird: Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo (Ketupa) flavipes

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[Mystery bird] Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo (Ketupa) flavipes, photographed at Corbett Tiger Reserve (also known as the Jim Corbett National Park), northeast of Delhi in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains of India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: John Kneeshaw [larger view].

Canon EOS 40D with 300mmAF lens.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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The big "ears," heavy build, yellow eyes, dark back and ruddy facial disks rule out all possibilities but one.

Ketupa ketupu.

Without knowing the size of the bird, I'd say it's pretty hard telling whether it's a Ketupa (or Bubo) ketupu or a Bubo flavipes, but I don't believe the former species ranges far enough northwest, so my vote goes to the latter one, the Tawny Fish Owl.

I think it's a Tawny Fish Owl, Bubo (Ketupa) flavipes. The lack of a border to the facial disk, the unstreaked tawny of the facial disk, the tawny and black marks on the wing feathers, and the tawny color on the flanks point to that species.