Greyish eagle owl
| Greyish Eagle Owl | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom Information | |
| Domain | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Subkingdom | Bilateria |
| Branch | Deuterostomia |
| Phylum Information | |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Sub-phylum | Vertebrata |
| Infraphylum | Gnathostomata |
| Class Information | |
| Superclass | Tetrapoda |
| Class | Aves |
| Sub-class | Neornithes |
| Infra-class | Neoaves |
| Order Information | |
| Order | Strigiformes |
| Family Information | |
| Family | Strigidae |
| Sub-family | Striginae |
| Genus Information | |
| Genus | Bubo |
| Species Information | |
| Species | B. cinerascens |
| Population statistics | |
| Conservation status | Least concern[1] |
The greyish eagle owl (Bubo cinerascens), is a species of owl found on the African continent. Long regarded as a subspecies of the spotted eagle owl, it has been treated in more recent literature as an independent species.
Description
The greyish eagle owl is a relatively small owl species. It reaches a body length of about 16.9 inches and weighs about 1.1 pounds. The feather color is grayish-brown, with the upper parts slightly darker than the chest and belly. The upper body plumage is very fine speckled. On the underside of the body the plumage has, in addition to the fine speckling, fine horizontal barring. The eyes are dark brown, and it bears a dark gray beak.
Range and habitat
The grayish eagle owl is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal, the Gambia and Cameroon east to Ethiopia, Somalia, Southern Sudan, the north of Kenya and the north of Uganda. During the hot season it will occasionally move to higher elevations to escape the heat. Its habitat is arid semi-deserts, open and semi-open savannas with thorn bushes and isolated trees, rocky hills, open hillsides, and mountainous areas. It is not found in dense forests and rainforests.
Habits
The grayish eagle owl is predominantly nocturnal, yet will be active at dawn. When resting it is found in the fissures of rocky crags, in the foliage of trees, or on the ground among bushes and between rocks. Its diet includes larger insects and spiders, small mammals and birds, lizards and frogs. Reproductive biology has not yet been conclusively investigated, but what is known of the nest is that it is set on the ground in sheltered places under a rock overhang or between larger stones, and two to three eggs are laid.
