NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mottled Wood Owl
Strix ocellata (R. P. Lesson, 1839)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The mottled wood owl (Strix ocellata) is a species of large owl found in India and Nepal. They are found in gardens and thin deciduous forests adjacent to dry thorn forests or farmland. They are easily detected by their distinctive tremulous, eerie calls at dawn and dusk. The characteristic call is a duet of the male and female, while other notes include a low hoot and a screech. Their large size, lack of "ear" tufts and the concentric barring on the face make them easy to identify.
Wikipedia contributors, Mottled wood owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:07:06.967849+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Strix ocellata (R. P. Lesson, 1839)
- Name authority
- (R. P. Lesson, 1839)
- Common name
- Mottled Wood Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Strix
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- subfamilyStriginae
- genusStrix Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesStrix ocellata (R. P. Lesson, 1839)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Strix. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rufous-banded OwlStrix albitarsis (Bonaparte, 1850) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hume's OwlStrix butleri (Hume, 1878) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fulvous OwlStrix fulvescens (P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1868) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-and-white OwlStrix nigrolineata (P. L. Sclater, 1859) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ural OwlStrix uralensis Pallas, 1771 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barred OwlStrix varia Barton, 1799 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Wood OwlStrix woodfordii (A. Smith, 1834) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Maghreb OwlStrix mauritanica (Witherby, 1905) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tawny OwlStrix aluco Linnaeus, 1758 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chaco OwlStrix chacoensis Cherrie & Reichenberger, 1921 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-banded OwlStrix huhula Daudin, 1800 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rusty-barred OwlStrix hylophila Temminck, 1825 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Syrnium ocellata R. P. Lesson, 1839 R. P. Lesson, 1839 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555426 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:532JJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.