This owl differs from other barn owls in its much longer, sparsely feathered legs. Gould considered that its long legs were 'admirably adapted for standing upon the great grassy plains in the midst of which this owl principally dwells, and for rising therefore with much greater ease than the short-legged members of the genus, which generally frequent trees, rocks, towers and other buildings.'
These owls roost during daylight hours in hollows or tunnels among tussocks of long grass and sedges. They do not build a nest, but lay their eggs in a bed made of crumpled vegetation; this site is often linked to runs formed under the grass. Their young are tawny coloured as depicted in the illustration, unlike the European Barn Owl chicks which are snowy white (see Richter's illustration of 1869 in Gould's The Birds of Great Britain, I, pl.28).
Richter also illustrated a Grass Owl and young bird in Gould's Birds of Australia: Supplement, 1851-1869, pl.1. The pose of the adult bird in the Australian volume is almost identical to the Asian bird, but the plumage of the latter is darker.
The bird and its young are depicted lifesize.
T.C. Jerdon, Illustrations of Indian Ornithology, 1847, pl.XXX, Long-legged Grass Owl.
DISTRIBUTION: Southern Asia, Malayan Archipelago, central and eastern New Guinea, New Caledonia and northern and eastern Australia