Australasian Grass-Owl

The eastern grass owl, also called the Chinese or Australasian grass owl, is a barn owl that feeds predominantly on small rodents. Males measure 32–38 cm and the larger females 35–42 cm, with a wingspan of 100–116 cm; the female weighs about 460 g and the male about 400 g. It has dark brown or tan upperparts with pale spots, black and tan bars on the wings, a very pale beak, feathered legs and dark brown eyes, and like all Tyto owls a heart-shaped facial disc, brown-buff with a white border (Wikipedia, general species account).

Its main call is a harsh, hissing screech, somewhat louder than the common barn owl's but softer than the masked owl's. Studies in parts of Australia show that the most common prey is the long-haired rat and the cane rat, detected from on the wing. The cached account is short on the Indian range and gives no breeding information. SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident of grassland that eats vertebrates and carrion, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).