Red-chested Owlet

Photo by Wintibird
Bobiri, Ghana, May 2014

Glaucidium tephronotum

Identification

18 cm.
Does not show ear tufts. In much of range with dusky upperparts lacking a white scapular row on shoulder, grey head, white to buffy underparts with rusty-orange on chest and upper flanks. Wings may be washed with rufous. Instead of false eyes on back of head, this species has double white spots on rear neck with inconspicuous dark are in between. In some areas head is similar to upperparts, not grey. Eyes and cere yellow, bill greenish, toes yellow with dark-tipped claws.

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and DRC.
Eastern Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

There are 3 subspecies:

• G. t. tephronotum:

• Equatorial forests of Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana

• G. t. pycrafti:

• Forests of southern Cameroon

• G. t. medje:

• Congo River basin to Zaire, eastern Uganda and western Kenya

An additional subspecies elgonense is not recognised by most authorities and two others, lukolelae and kivuense, are usually considered invalid^[2].

Habitat

Forest, edges, mosaic of forest and scrub, up to 2150 m asl

Behaviour

Food chiefly consists of invertebrates with small mammals and birds less important.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. König, C. and F. Weick 2008. Owls of the World, second edition. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-chested Owlet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-chested_Owlet

External Links

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