Appearance:
Very few have ever seen the creature and those who claim to have caught a glance and lucky not to hear the scream describe the creature to be a massive bird, with a large tale, horns protruding from the head along with either piercing black or glowing eyes.
As the bird is not usually seen and its cries are described in unclear terms. Ulama reports might refer to the Ceylon Highland Nightjar whose males are known to have a screaming flight-call atypical for nightjars.
Explanation:
There has been a systematic investigation of the identification of this bird by Dr. R.L. Spittel in his book 'The Far-off Things'. Accordingly, the spot-bellied eagle owl is one possible contender but changeable hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus ceylanensis) and Oriental honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) are more likely contenders to be the "Devil Bird".
A spot-bellied eagle-owl (Bubo nipalensis) specimen found by villagers in 2001 received much publicity in the press as the final resolution of the bird's identity but the natives who actually have heard the 'true' cry of the Ulama and had seen the bird in action, are certain that it is a changeable hawk-eagle, which is more in agreement with the description of the bird in the local folklore. The reason for the confusion is probably the fact that most Sri Lankans have a mistaken perception as to the true cry of the Ulama.
One problem with the spot-bellied eagle-owl being the Devil Bird is that in most legends involving the bird, the original Devil Bird was a person in anguish who fled into the forest clutching their head with one hand only indicating that the bird had a crest as opposed to two ear-tufts. Since the spot-bellied eagle-owl has very prominent ear-tufts, it may not be the Devil Bird. However, all the legends may have stemmed from one, and all may have got that detail incorrect.
According to R.L Spittel in his book "Far-off Things", the steps that should be taken to identify the bird are; "(a) The cry should be clearly recognized and defined, and not be confused with many weird cries of the jungle. (b) The bird should be shot while actually making the cry, or on the tree from which the cry comes. (c) It should be identified after death by an ornithologist."
