India, June 21 -- Owls prefer to dwell in a hermit-like bubble of life. They are often missed over by birders due to a preference for turning active in darkness. Much to the delight of all those who do not view owls as omens of death, scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, registered a new owl species record for the Union Territory - a brown fish owl (BFO) that had taken advantage of silt-retention dams in the 25.98 sq km Sukhna Wildlife sanctuary.

In its report submitted to the department titled "Status of Wildlife in Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary and other Forested Areas, Chandigarh, UT", the WII stated: "Although the main aim of the dams in the sanctuary was to prevent the silting up of the Sukhna lake, some dams h...