A slim, medium-sized, very dark owl with long banded tail. Chocolate brown with some white on back and wings and heavily-streaked underparts. Andaman and Nicobar race all dark. Face mainly dark. No ear tufts. Irises yellow. Sexes alike. Hunts, singly or in pairs, insects, birds and other animals from favoured perch. Sweeping hawk-like flight with flaps and long glides. Usually crepuscular or nocturnal, roosting in thick canopy. Will also hunt on cloudy days. Nests in tree hole.

Sexes alike. Dull golden-buff above, finely speckled black and white; white below, often with fine , dark spots; heart-shaped, white facial disc striking. Solitary or in pairs; nocturnal, but sometimes hunts during day; normally rests during day, mostly in a tree-cavity, dense creepers or some dark loft; perches upright; flies silently, mostly under 4m from ground; pounces on prey.

Smaller than the Japanese and Common Quail, the male has a very noticeable stripe on the crown and supercilium with a black and white pattern on the head and neck, a black ‘anchor’ mark on the throat and a prominent black patch on the breast. A black border highlights the white neck. The flanks are streaked with black. The female is very similar to the female Common, except that it has no barring on the primaries. Found in small coveys. Builds shallow, grass-lined nests in standing crops.

Small, distinctive cuckoo, with grey head and upper body, and unbarred grey breast and belly; white vent and white-barred undertail coverts; hepatic female  and immature similar to Plaintive, but brighter rufous; lack supercilium and barred tail of Banded Bay; lighter barring on crown and nape; cross-barred back,
narrow-barred white underparts; mostly solitary; as with Plaintive, mainly arboreal, keeping to treetops and restlessly changing perches while singing; may descend to ground in pursuit of insects.