The tawny fish owl (Bubo flavipes) is a species of owl. It used to be placed in Ketupa with the other fish owls, but that group is tentatively included with the eagle-owls in Bubo, until the affiliations of the fish owls and fishing owls can be resolved more precisely. It is clear from several shared characteristics that the more typical Bubo and fish owls are indeed related, including the structure of the talons, prominent ear tufts and plumage characteristics, unlike the superficially dissimilar fishing owls of Africa.