Owls, like woodpeckers, do not patronise the Nilgiris very largely. The only owl that commonly makes itself heard on those mountains is the brown wood-owl (<em>Syrnium indrani</em>). This is the bird which perches on the roof of the house at night and calls <em>to-whoo</em>.
Occasionally, especially round about Ootacamund, the grunting <em>ur-ur-ur-ur</em> of the brown fish-owl (<em>Ketupa zeylonensis</em>) disturbs the silence of the night on the Nilgiris.