Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Indian Barn Owl in Diamond District of Bangalore


For a real life image of the Indian Barn Owl see


AIRPORT ROAD’S BARN OWLS

Barn Owl or Screech Owl
Nests in deserted buildings
Of Diamond District.

They come out at dusk
Flying silently like ghosts
Fully nocturnal.

They hunt rats and mice
In the night they screech and hiss
Singly or in pairs.

Golden buff and grey
Finely stippled black and white
That’s the barn owl’s top!

Silky white below
Tinged with buff, spotted dark brown
With a large round head.

Conspicious ruff
Of stiff feathers surrounding
A comical face.

Monkey-like face disk
Sexes alike; two races
All over India.

Harsh discordant screams
Weird snoring and hissing notes
White smooth roundish eggs.

Rats and mice owl’s food
Makes sound economic sense
Nests throughout the year.

Straw twigs rags rubbish
Padded into hollows of
Trees, celings and roofs.

The size of a crow
Related races world wide
Doze during the day

Doze during the day
In dark niches standing up
Dusk starts the owl’s day!

Ramaswami Ashok Kumar
ashokuku@rediffmail.com
© Ramaswami Ashok Kumar 2012