A rare Mottled Wood Owl (Strix Ocellata) was found unable to fly by Joy Joseph of a furniture show room on Variety hall road on Friday Morning.
Following information, Mohammed Saleem, president of Environment Conservation Group and Gokul Ram rescued the bird.
Its left wing was injured. The most striking feature of this bird is its large dark eyes.
The owl was handed over to K. Ashokan, Director of Coimbatore Corporation zoo. It will be set free once it regains its health.
Mottled Wood Owls prefer to stay within a range of dense grove of trees.
They are more heard than seen. They are easily detected by their distinctive spine chilling calls during dawn and dusk.
They roost in large trees during the day choosing a branch with dense foliage.
A lot of superstition surrounds the sighting of an owl, because it is associated with darkness and because of its eerie call.
It was surprising to see a Mottled Wood Owl on a busy stretch, Mr. Saleem added.
There is a general increase in the hunting of owls during Deepavali time owing to superstitious beliefs. Mr. Saleem said that owls were very important to our eco-system and they preyed on small rodents such as mice.
