| African wood owl | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Strix |
| Species: | S. woodfordii |
| Binomial name | |
| Strix woodfordii (Smith, A, 1834) | |
| Synonyms | |
Ciccaba woodfordii Smith A., 1834 | |
The African wood owl (Strix woodfordii) or Woodford's owl, is a typical owl from the genus Strix in the family Strigidae which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.
The African wood owl is a medium-sized owl which has the typical rounded head of the genus Strix similar to the Palearctic tawny owl or Holarctic great grey owl, with large dark eyes outlined by white eyebrows, and a white belly barred with brown. Overall, it has rich brown plumage with paler underparts, but it varies considerably across its range. [3] It is 30.5 to 35 cm (12.0 to 13.8 in) long and weighs from 240 to 350 grams (8.5 to 12.3 oz). [4]
The typical song, like that of the tawny owl is a duet between the male and the female, the male makes a series of rapid, clear hoots, and the female answers with higher pitched, more leisurely hoots. [3]
There are currently four recognised subspecies and they are named and distributed as follows: [5]
It lives mainly in forest and woodland though it sometimes inhabits plantations. It is strictly nocturnal and eats mostly insects but will also eat reptiles, small mammals, and other birds which are mostly caught by swooping from a perch. It breeds from July to October and lays 1 to 3 eggs in a tree hollow, incubation starts with the first egg so that the young hatch asynchronously and if food is short then siblicide occurs. The eggs are incubated for about 31 days. Five weeks after the eggs hatch, the young will leave the nest and can fly two weeks later. The young will remain with the parents for about four months and will sometimes stay until the next breeding season. Its call is a loud series of fast hoots. During the day it roosts singly or in pairs in dense cover, high in trees, calling begins after dusk. [4]
This owl and a number of Neotropical owls were placed in the genus Ciccaba but as they are doubtless closely related to Strix they are now treated as such. [4] This owl is named after the British soldier of the Napoleonic Wars and naturalist Colonel E.J.A. Woodford. [6]
The African grey woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. Is a widespread and frequently common resident breeder in much of Sub-Saharan and equatorial Africa. It is a species associated with forest and bush which nests in a tree hole, often in an oil palm, laying two to four eggs. It is a common bird with a very wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The African paradise flycatcher is a medium-sized passerine bird. The two central tail feathers of the male are extended into streamers that commonly are more than twice as long as the body. The female tail feathers are of moderate length and without streamers. The upper parts of the male body, wings, and tail are boldly coloured in chestnut or rusty shades, but the underparts and the head are variably grey to blue-gray, with the head of the mature male being darker, commonly glossy black with greenish highlights. The beak and other bare areas, including a wattle ring round the eye, match the colour of the surrounding feathers. The female coloration is similar, though not so showy and glossy and with the head paler.
The yellow-fronted canary is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is sometimes known in aviculture as the green singing finch.
The olive bee-eater or Madagascar bee-eater is a near passerine bee-eater species in the genus Merops. It is native to the southern half of Africa where it is present in Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe. It is a common species with a wide range so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as "least concern".
Strix is a genus of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae), one of the two generally accepted living families of owls, with the other being the barn-owl (Tytonidae). Common names are earless owls or wood owls, though they are not the only owls without ear tufts, and "wood owl" is also used as a more generic name for forest-dwelling owls. Neotropical birds in the genus Ciccaba are sometimes included in Strix.
The cardinal woodpecker is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs in a wide range of habitats, ranging from dense forest to thorn bush. It is fairly vocal and is easily identified by its call notes. The sexes are distinguishable by their head patterns.
The African yellow warbler, also known as Natal yellow warbler, dark-capped yellow warbler or yellow flycatcher-warbler, is a species of Acrocephalidae warblers; formerly, these were placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warblers".
The African goshawk is an African species of bird of prey in the genus Accipiter which is the type genus of the family Accipitridae.
The gabar goshawk is a small species of African and Arabian bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
The coppery-tailed coucal is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It was first described by the German ornithologist Anton Reichenow in 1896.
Fraser's eagle-owl is a species of African owl in the family Strigidae. It is named after the British zoologist Louis Fraser.
The African green pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, and one of 5 green pigeon species in the Afrotropics. The species has a wide range in Sub-Saharan Africa with around 17 accepted races.
The white-bellied bustard or white-bellied korhaan is an African species of bustard. It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa in grassland and open woodland habitats.
The thick-billed weaver, or grosbeak weaver, is a distinctive and bold species of weaver bird that is native to the Afrotropics. It belongs to the monotypic genus Amblyospiza and subfamily Amblyospizinae.
The cuckoo-finch, also known as the parasitic weaver or cuckoo weaver, is a small passerine bird now placed in the family Viduidae with the indigobirds and whydahs. It occurs in grassland in Africa south of the Sahara. The male is mainly yellow and green while the female is buff with dark streaks. The eggs are laid in the nests of other birds.
The little green sunbird, also called Seimund's sunbird, is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Nectarinia. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.
The grey-rumped swallow is a species of swallow. It is the only member of the genus Pseudhirundo.
The tawny owl, also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, and whose upper body may be either brown or grey. The tawny owl typically makes its nest in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. It is non-migratory and highly territorial: as a result, when young birds grow up and leave the parental nest, if they cannot find a vacant territory to claim as their own, they will often starve.
The black bishop is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. Three subspecies are recognised.
The species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name. The binomial derives from Greek strix "owl" and Italian allocco, "tawny owl". Some early descriptions upon review were found to have somehow conflated the very different barn owl with the scientific name Strix aluco, which in turn engendered some confusion.
