From Opus

Includes Ngami Owlet; Scheffler's Owlet, Chestnut Owlet

Photo by Neil
Sabi Sands, South Africa, August 2008

Glaucidium capense

[edit] Identification

A small owl which reaches a maximum size of 22cm. No ear tufts. The females are larger, but otherwise the sexes are similar.

• Chestnut brown
• White spotted upperparts and head
• Buff underparts
• Pale face mask
• Yellow iris
• Feathered feet

[edit] Distribution

Southern half of Africa
Western Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and DRC
Eastern Africa: Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Uganda
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland

[edit] Taxonomy

Polytypic. Consists of five subspecies.

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• G. c. scheffleri:

• Extreme southern coastal Somalia, eastern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania

• G. c. ngamiense:

• Central Tanzania to eastern Zaire, Angola, Mozambique and Mafia Island

• G. c. capense:

• Southern Mozambique to Natal and eastern Cape Province

• G. c. etchecopari:

• Patchily distributed in Liberia and Ivory Coast

• G. c. castaneum:

• North-eastern Zaire (Semliki Valley) and south-western Uganda (Bwamba Forest) - Together with etchecopari sometimes regarded as full species, Chestnut Owlet

[edit] Habitat

Woodland and forests, and on forest edges, more open savannah and along rivers.

[edit] Behaviour

It is partly diurnal.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects as well as small birds, mammals and reptiles.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase

• List of references

[edit] External Links