African Wood Owl Photos – Kibale National Park, Uganda
There was a woman here surveying for moths at night. This is done by using a bright light to attract the moths and then cataloging the species. The interesting thing was many animals began keying into this bounty of moths attracted to the lights. The baboons would come by in the morning and rip the wings off the big moths and eat the bodies. Crowned hornbills would pluck them off the wall in a flyby. At night the genet cats would come by and eat them off the walls and also the African wood owls would perch in the shadows before silently swooping in for a meal. The owls would be hooting back and forth only a few meters from our open window. It’s a great chorus to witness.
The interesting thing for me is the African wood owl is in the same genus as the North American spotted owl; Strix. There is a clear similarity in the plumage of both the wood owl and the spotted owl but also in their calls. They have a 7-note hooting call and a single rising hoot. Both similar to the spotted owl I worked with in Yosemite National Park in California, USA.
It is certainly a fun bird to see let alone watch it pluck moths from the wall of our house
December 1st, 2011 at 10:05 am
Hi Ronan,
I was really impressed by your blog!I was searching for the call of African wood owl which I heard calling in Saiwa National Park, Kenya.Great you spotted the owl in Kibale national park.I was there in July and I missed the Green-breasted pitta!!!did you see it?.I also do birding blogging and I invite you to view it.
http://kenyabirding.wordpress.com/
Cheers,
Jo