Recently, an adult barn owl was seen resting at ground level at our apartment complex at Jagathy, to the amusement of the morning walkers. Many mistook this for the endangered species, Silver Owl, which fetches a fabulous sum in the illicit market. I took these pictures and mailed them to Mr Suresh Elamon, a birder and a photographer. He was of the opinion that this is a common barn owl, but it was unsusal to see it at day time that too in a crowded area. Perhaps it must have been injured or eased out of its normal habitat.
A fortnight later another owl was spotted at Asian School Business, Technocity, Pallipuram. Though this was good 24 Kms from town, the owl was resting in an atrium of the newly built campus throughout the day. It was not seen a day later. A quick google search confirmed the fact the trading in owls (including the common barn owl) is illegal. There has also been cases of passing off common owls as rare species for pecuniary gains.
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