Spotted Eagle-Owl

Spotted at the trey inhabit most of Africa south of the Sahara desert away from dense forests. They are diurnal hunters, spending the night concealed in trees, rock ledges or abandoned burrows. They are found in areas with rocky outcroppings, scrub land, open woods, and semi deserts. Spotted Eagle-owls do not avoid populated areas. They often hunt near roads and are often struck by vehicles. The major cause of death is pesticides used in agriculture for insect and rodent control.

The Spotted Eagle-Owl is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Spotted Eagle-owl (Bubo africanus) is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle owls. Its height is forty-five cm (18 inch) and its weight is from 480 to 850g (1 to 1.8 pounds). It has a 33cm (13 in) wingspan. The facial disk is off white to pale ochre and the eyes are yellow. It has prominent ear tufts, and the upper body is dusky brown, the lower parts off-white with brown bars. More

The spotted eagle-owl’s call is a typical hoot, hoo-hoo (2). Range - The most common species of eagle-owl in southern Africa, the spotted eagle-owl has an extremely large range extending throughout almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of the Arabian Peninsula (1). View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. More

Spotted Eagle-owls inhabit most of Africa south of the Sahara desert away from dense forests. They are nocturnal hunters, spending the day concealed in trees, rock ledges or abandoned burrows. They are found in areas with rocky outcroppings, scrub land, open woods, and semi deserts. Spotted Eagle-owls do not avoid populated areas. They often hunt near roads and are often struck by vehicles. The major cause of death is pesticides used in agriculture for insect and rodent control. More

It is closely related to the Spotted Eagle-owl, of which is it sometimes considered the northern subspecies, B. africanus cinerascens. It is found in the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa from Mauretania and Liberia east to Sudan and Somalia. Its habitats include dry rocky deserts and open savannah, as well as lowland forests in Somalia. This species is about 43 cm (17 inches) long and weighs about 500 g (1.1 lb). More

Spotted eagle-owl eggs in nest© Stephen Pringle Spotted eagle-owl with chicks at nest© Clem Haagner / www.ardea.com Spotted eagle-owl with chick© Tony Heald / naturepl.com Spotted eagle-owl chick© Colin Paterson-Jones / naturalvisions.co.uk Spotted eagle-owl fledglings© Ann & Steve Toon / www.nhpa.co.uk Young spotted eagle-owl © Steve Robinson / www.nhpa.co.uk Sub-adult spotted eagle-owl on branch© Ann & Steve Toon / www.nhpa.co. More

The Spotted eagle-owl is a familiar bird in many parts of southern Africa, and lives in a wide range of habitats. It has an extremely varied diet, eating anything from poisonous snakes and carrion to falcons and insects. It breeds in most months in the year, nesting in a variety of different places. There are usually 2-3 chicks in one brood, up to 6 chicks in good years. Juveniles are only fully independent 4 months after leaving the nest. More

Spotted Eagle-Owl, lives in Africa. Its another subspecies bubo africanus milesi is known to occur in parts of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and southern Oman, Because this subspecies is restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, they are called the More

* Adult Spotted Eagle-Owl at night South Africa ingwe24 17 January 2004 1 year ago 3.8 * An adult perched on the hand. Cim d'Àligues, Sant Feliu de Codines, Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain Alberto Soria 31 March 2010 5 weeks ago 3.7 * An adult perched on the hand. More

Picture of Bubo africanus above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.
Original source: BotMultichill
Author: BotMultichill
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Strigiformes
Family : Strigidae
Genus : Bubo
Species : africanus
Authority : (Temminck, 1821)