Forest Eagle Owl | 05 Jun 2024

Why in News?

The Pench Tiger Reserve has become a favorable place for a lesser-known group of forest eagle owls, also identified as the spot-bellied eagle owl.

Key Points

  • In Central India, these nocturnal birds have also been reported from Madhya Pradesh Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserve.
  • The forest eagle owl, a large bird, is discovered in dense evergreen and moist deciduous forests close to water, in wet temperate, and riparian (adjacent to a water body) forests.
    • Similar to many other owl species, the spot-bellied eagle owl also makes calls for multiple purposes such as communication, territorial protection, and attracting mates.
  • The researchers recorded their calls and analysed the frequency with Raven Pro software.
    • Raven Pro is a software program for the acquisition, visualization, measurement, and analysis of sounds.

Pench Tiger Reserve

  • It is located in Nagpur District of Maharashtra and named after the pristine Pench River.
    • The Pench river flows right through the middle of the park.
    • It descends from north to south, thereby dividing the reserve into equal eastern and western parts.
  • PTR is the joint pride of both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
    • The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh, and continues in Nagpur district in Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
  • It was declared a National Park by the Government of Maharashtra in 1975 and the identity of a tiger reserve was granted to it in the year 1992.
    • However, PTR Madhya Pradesh was granted the same status in 1992-1993. It is one of the major Protected Areas of Satpura-Maikal ranges of the Central Highlands.
  • It is among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) of India.
    • The IBA is a programme of Birdlife International which aims to identify, monitor and protect a global network of IBAs for conservation of the world’s birds and associated diversity.