African Scops Owl - BirdForum Opus

Photo by jdbirdman
Etosha, Namibia, October 2004

Otus senegalensis

Identification

Length 14-18 cm; mass 45-97 g. A small, heavily streaked, grey owl with ear tufts. The face is surrounded by black edging.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea
Eastern Africa: Somalia
Southern Africa: Namibia, South Africa
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands

Taxonomy

Arabian Scops Owl and Socotra Scops Owl were formerly included in this species.

Subspecies^[1]

• O. s. senegalensis:

• Widespread sub-Saharan Africa

• O. s. feae:

• Pagulu (Gulf of Guinea)

• O. s. nivosus:

• South-eastern Kenya (lower Tana River to Lali Hills)

Habitat

Dry woodland, savanna, parks

Behaviour

Nocturnal.

Diet

The diet includes insects and spiders.

Vocalisation

A frog-like prrup repeated every 5-8 seconds; often for several minutes.

Breeding

They breed in a tree cavity. 4-6 eggs laid from April - June and incubated for 27 days. Young fledge by about 30 days.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
4. Avibase
5. SA-Venues.com

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) African Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/African_Scops_Owl

External Links

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