The akun eagle-owl (''Ketupa leucosticta'') is a species of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

in the family

Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owl ...

, native to the African tropical rainforest.

Taxonomy

The akun eagle-owl was formally described in 1855 by the German ornithologist

Gustav Hartlaub Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (8 November 1814 – 29 November 1900) was a German physician and ornithologist. Hartlaub was born in Bremen, and studied at Bonn and Berlin before graduating in medicine at Göttingen. In 1840, he began to study and co ...

from a specimen collected in Ghana. Hartlaub placed the owl in the genus ''

Bubo A bubo (Greek βουβών, ''boubṓn'', 'groin') is adenitis or inflammation of the lymph nodes and is an example of reactive lymphadenopathy. Classification Buboes are a symptom of bubonic plague and occur as painful swellings in the thigh ...

'' and coined the binomial name ''Buco leucostictus''. The specific epithet ''leucostictus'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''leukostiktos'' which means "white-speckled". The akun eagle-owl is now placed in the genus '' Ketupa'' that was introduced in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

: no subspecies are recognised. The common English name, akun, is from the local name for the owl in southwest Camaroon. The local name "Akuñ" was recorded by the collector

George Latimer Bates George Latimer Bates (March 21, 1863, Abingdon, Illinois US – January 31, 1940 Chelmsford UK), LL.D., M.B.O.U. was an American naturalist. Bates studied at Knox College, Galesburg and at the Chicago Theological Seminary and in 1895 visited W ...

near Grand Batanga and published in 1904 by the English ornithologist

Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mo ...

Description

The akun eagle-owl is one of the smaller eagle-owls, it has predominantly hark to reddish-brown head and upperparts, with pale, dusky brown bars on the wings and back, and white markings around the shoulders. There are two large "ear" tufts on the head which are dark brown with white spots, while the eyes are pale yellow. The upper breast is light reddish-brown and marked with dark bars, while the lower breast, belly and vent are white, with reddish-brown vermiculations and large blackish spots. Juveniles have a whitish head and body, with reddish-brown barring and brown wings and tail. The usual call is a low, accelerating, clucking rattle and when alarmed it produces an unusual quacking sound.

Distribution and habitat

The akun eagle-owl has a patchy range that extends through a number of the west African countries which have coastlines on the Gulf of Guinea, from Guinea east to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and south to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, extending inland into the southern

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, Congo and northern parts of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The Akun eagle-owl is found mainly in lowland primary and secondary rainforest, particularly around forest edges and clearings, and also along the edges of rivers and on forested river islands.

Behaviour and ecology

Like most owls the akun eagle-owl is a nocturnal species emerging from its daytime roost at dusk to hunt. It's unusual for an eagle owl in that it apparently feeds almost exclusively on insects, its small feet and a relatively weak bill prevent it from tackling larger prey. Its main prey are beetles, cicadas and locusts, which are either gleaned from foliage or taken in flight before being brought back to a perch, held in the feet and ripped into small pieces with the bill. Little is known regarding the breeding biology of the Akun eagle-owl. In west Africa it appears to lay eggs around the period from November to January, and young owlets have been recorded in the nest in Liberia between February and April. As in some other eagle-owls, the Akun eagle-owl builds its nest on the ground.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273322 Akun eagle-owl Birds of the African tropical rainforest Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa Akun eagle-owl Taxonomy articles created by Polbot