
- Ketupa shelleyi
Bubo shelleyi
Identification
61 cm (24 in)
- Heavily barred black and white on front and lower face
- Dark upperparts
- Well defined dark facial disc rim
- Untidy ear tufts
Distribution
Africa:
Western Africa: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: occurs only in Uganda
Taxonomy
Bubo vs. Ketupa
The genus Ketupa as traditionally defined is embedded within the traditional genus Bubo, while genus Scotopelia may be embedded within the Ketupa group of species, or perhaps is sister to this clade. One solution is to move all species to Bubo, which was done by some checklists in the past. Another solution is to move some species from Bubo to Ketupa, which is the solution currently favored by both the IOC and Clements checklists, and here also implemented in The Opus. The current composition of Ketupa can be seen in the genus page Ketupa.
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Lowland primary forests and forest edges.
Behaviour
Diet
Very little is known. One owl has been seen eating a large flying squirrel.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Shelley's Eagle-Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Shelley%27s_Eagle-Owl
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1