Spotted Eagle-Owl

Description:

The Spotted Eagle-Owl (Bubo africanus) is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle owls. Its length is forty-five cm (18 inch) and its weight is from 480 to 850g (1 to 1.8 pounds). It has a 100 centimetres (39 in) to 140 centimetres (55 in) wingspan.[2] 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.

Habitat:

In large trees in urban area.

Notes:

It is illegal to capture or keep these owls in most Southern African countries, but the nestlings are easy to tame and they make affectionate, companionable pets. However, feeding them is demanding, because they do best on balanced diets that include feathers, bones and various tissues, not just meat. Suitably dismembered chicks, rodents, or non-toxic frogs make good food if available. Otherwise the owlets suffer malnutrition of various types, with poor bone formation and eventually they are likely to die and in any case would have no hope of survival in the wild. Also, teaching them to hunt and not to fixate on humans instead of their own species is no job for novices, however loving.