It is said that Urdu is the language of love; people who love Urdu are not expected to be rude. My grandfather would call someone whom he considered foolish, “Boodam-be-dal”. Boom means owl in Urdu. By saying “Boodam-be-dal“, he meant Boom without the Urdu alphabet ‘dal‘, D in English. It was a civilised way of calling a person stupid. In India, when you call someone ullu(owl), you mean to say that the person is half-witted. To be called an owl is to be declared foolish.

“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” a Sanskrit phrase meaning “The world is one family,” is a concept rooted in ancient Indian scriptures. Athene Brama, the scientific name of the Spotted Owl, is a good example of this concept. The name derives from two divine, mythological figures: a Greek Goddess and a Hindu God. In Greek mythology, Athena is the Goddess of wisdom, war, and liberal arts. Brahma ji is the creator in the Hindu religion.

Spotted owlets are nocturnal and crepuscular (active during dusk). They can be spotted during the day as well. They roost within tree cavities or on branches.

An owl has 14 cervical vertebrae, compared to seven in humans. This allows them to rotate their heads up to 270 degrees, which is essential for hunting and prey detection. A flexible neck is necessary for owls since they have fixed tubular eyes. Humans can move their eyeballs, but an owl needs to rotate its entire head to scan the surroundings. They have excellent night vision.

I have seen and taken pictures of Spotted Owls at different locations around India. Saw a pair of Spotted Owls looking at me from a tall tree in Okhla Bird Sanctuary. There was one living very close to my house in Delhi. I saw its shiny eyes sparkling through the leaves and branches of a tree many times. The tree is no more, and the owl is not my neighbour anymore.

On a pleasant morning at a resort near Thiruvananthapuram, I saw a Spotted Owl on the wooden roof, just opposite the cottage I was staying in.

Owls are associated with myths, magic and superstitions. Capturing and trading in protected wildlife is a punishable offence in India. Yet we hear and read cases of owls being captured, caged and sold for black magic.

At dusk, they perch on electrical wires, street lamp posts, fences, and other vantage points in search of prey. They eat beetles, moths, and other insects. They also prey on lizards, mice and small birds. They are not just cute, they help maintain a balance in our ecosystem, by keeping a check on the rodent and insect population.

We need to re-examine our opinion about the avian world. Spotted owls are cute birds with white eyebrows and bright yellow eyes. They are anything but unwise.

Photos and content by Prerna Jain.