Collared Owlet
<p><strong>Collared Owlet:</strong> <strong><em>Collared, cute and cunning.</em></strong></p>
<p>This tiny owl makes a rhythmic toot… tootoot… toot… from a tree branch in the Mishmi hills, Arunachal Pradesh. Its buff-fringed dark ‘eyes’ (top), give it a threatening look. But wait, it suddenly swivels its head 180° to reveal its true bright-yellow eyes! (above) This tiny trickster (the smallest owl in Asia at 15 cm.!) is the Collared Owlet <em>Taenioptynx brodiei</em>, distributed across Asia.</p>
<p>False eyes are strategies adopted by smaller insects like moths and butterflies to deter predators. But why, one might wonder, would predators need to adopt similar strategies? A recent theory suggests that several birds of prey sport false eyes to safeguard their actual eyes from attacks by determined mobsters capable of grievous injury in a bid to protect their nest and nestlings.</p>
