| Greyish eagle-owl | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Bubo |
| Species: | B. cinerascens |
| Binomial name | |
| Bubo cinerascens Guérin-Méneville, 1843 | |
The greyish eagle-owl or vermiculated eagle-owl (Bubo cinerascens) is a rather large owl of the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa. It was previously regarded as the northern subspecies of the spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus).
This species is about 43 cm (17 in) long and weighs about 500 g (18 oz). [3] Like the spotted eagle-owl, the greyish eagle-owl has mottled dark brown, buff, and white upperparts and finely barred (vermiculated) underparts giving a greyish-brown appearance. It differs from the spotted eagle-owl in having dark brown (not yellow) eyes and a brownish facial disk marked with a heavy brown circle around each eye. [4] It also has morphological differences, such as being lighter though about the same length and having shorter tarsi.
As the greyish eagle-owl was considered the northern form of the spotted eagle-owl until recently their vocalisations have not been well studied. The call of the male recorded in West Africa consisted of two clear syllables and has been rendered as "koo-whoo" where the "koo" part is rather explosive and the "whoo" is somewhat downward inflected, lower pitched and extended. This call is made every few seconds and is thus not similar to that of the spotted eagle-owl. [5]
It is found in the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa from Mauritania and Liberia east to Sudan and Somalia. [6] Its habitats include dry rocky deserts and open savannah, as well as lowland forests in Somalia. [3]
Roosts during the day are hidden and vary from rocky natural sites such as cliff crevices and boulders to bushes and trees to man-made structures. It feeds on larger insects and other large arthropods as well as vertebrates. It usually hunts from a perch, using a sit-and-wait technique, but may also hawk insects and sometimes bats in flight. The breeding biology is probably similar to the spotted eagle-owl. It lays 2 or 3 eggs in a scrape on the ground or among rocks or in a sheltered cliff site, although it will sometimes reuse the old platform-like nests of larger birds in trees. [5]
It is closely related to the spotted eagle-owl, of which is it sometimes considered the northern subspecies, Bubo africanus cinerascens. [4] [6] In the area of overlap with the spotted eagle-owl in Kenya and the Horn of Africa, the two species are not known to interbreed. [3] [5]
The American horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus Bubo, at least as traditionally described. The genus name Bubo is Latin for owl.
The Eurasian eagle-owl is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia.
Verreaux's eagle-owl, also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family Strigidae. This species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. A member of the genus Ketupa, it is the largest African owl, measuring up to 66 cm (26 in) in total length. This eagle-owl is a resident primarily of dry, wooded savanna. Verreaux's eagle-owl is mainly grey in color and is distinguishable from other large owls by its bright pink eyelids, a feature shared with no other owl species in the world.
The spotted eagle-owl, also known as the African spotted eagle-owl and the African eagle-owl, is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the eagle owls. Its length is 45 cm (18 in) and its weight is from 454 to 907 grams. It has a 100 to 140 cm 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. Prior to 1999 the spotted eagle-owl was considered conspecific with the greyish eagle-owl, but now it is classed as a separate species.
The African scops owl is a small owl which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.
The spotted wood owl is an owl of the earless owl genus, Strix. Its range is disjunct; it occurs in many regions surrounding Borneo, but not on that island itself.
The African wood owl or Woodford's owl, is a typical owl from the genus Strix in the family Strigidae which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Pharaoh eagle-owl is a Middle Eastern and North African species of owl in the family Strigidae.
The Cape eagle-owl is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is one of several large species of the eagle-owl genus Bubo.
The dusky eagle-owl is an owl species in the family Strigidae that is widespread in South and Southeast Asia. The type specimen used to describe the species was collected on the Coromandel Coast, which was used for the specific epithet. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The species's extent of occurrence is estimated at 9,250,000 km2 (3,570,000 sq mi). However, volunteer generated databases such as eBird.org suggest that the available extent of occurrence is a vast over-estimate.
Fraser's eagle-owl is a species of African owl in the family Strigidae. It is named after the British zoologist Louis Fraser.
The barred eagle-owl, also called the Malay eagle-owl, is a species of eagle owl in the family Strigidae. It is a member of the large genus Ketupa, which is found on most of the world's continents. This relatively little-known species is found from the southern Malay Peninsula down a string of several of the larger southeast Asian islands to as far as Borneo. It forms a superspecies with the physically similar but larger spot-bellied eagle-owl, although the two species appear to be allopatric in distribution.
The Usambara eagle-owl, also called the East African nduk eagle-owl or Vosseier's eagle-owl, is a taxon of owl in the family Strigidae. It is now regarded as a subspecies of Fraser's eagle-owl. It is endemic to the Usambara Mountains in Tanga Region of Tanzania.
The African barred owlet is a species of small owl in the family Strigidae found in much of southern, central and eastern Africa. The taxon may be four species rather than a single species.
The vermiculated fishing owl is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found within riverine forest in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria. This species was first described by British zoologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1875 and named in honour of French naturalist Eugène Louis Bouvier.
Pel's fishing owl is a large species of owl in the family Strigidae, found in Africa. It lives near rivers and lakes, and feeds nocturnally on fish and frogs snatched from the surface of lakes and rivers. The species prefers slow-moving rivers with large, overhanging trees to roost in and forage from. It nests in hollows and the forks of large trees. Though as many as two eggs are laid, often only one chick is raised.
Vermiculation is a surface pattern of dense but irregular lines, so called from the Latin vermiculus meaning "little worm" because the shapes resemble worms, worm-casts, or worm tracks in mud or wet sand. The word may be used in a number of contexts for patterns that have little in common. The adjective vermiculated is more often used than the noun.
