Abyssinian Owl - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: African Long-eared Owl

Photo by peterday
Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia, November 2013

Asio abyssinicus

Identification

42–44 cm

• Brown ear tufts with white edges
• Pale to dark buffy-rufous facial disc
• Grey Eyebrows

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda

Taxonomy

Subspecies

This is a polytipic species consisting of two subspecies^[1]:

• A. a. abyssinicus:

• Highlands of Eritrea and Ethiopia

• A. a. graueri:

• Rwenzori Mountains (northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and southwestern Uganda), Mt. Kabobo (eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Mount Kenya

Habitat

Montane woodland, moorland and grassland. At heights above 3000 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of small mammals, particularly rats, molerats and shrews.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2014)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Abyssinian Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 September 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Abyssinian_Owl

External Links

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