Verreaux's Eagle Owl
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Verreaux's eagle-owl (''Ketupa lactea''), also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family
Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family (biology), family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls and bay owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species ...
. This species is widespread in
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
. A member of the genus '' Ketupa'', it is the largest African owl, measuring up to in total length. This eagle-owl is a resident primarily of dry, wooded
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
. Verreaux's eagle-owl is mainly grey in color and is distinguishable from other large owls by its bright pink eyelids, a feature shared with no other owl species in the world.König, C., & Weick, F. (2008). ''Owls of the World''. A&C Black. . Verreaux's eagle-owl is a highly opportunistic predator equipped with powerful talons. Just over half of its known diet is composed of mammals but equal or even greater numbers of birds and even insects may be hunted locally, along with any other appropriately sized prey that is encountered.Brown, L. H. (1965). "Observations on Verreaux's Eagle Owl ''Bubo lacteus'' (Temminck) in Kenya." ''Journal of the East African Natural History Society'', 25, 101-107.Avery, G., Robertson, A. S., Palmer, N. G., & Prins, A. J. (1985). "Prey of giant eagle owls in the de Hoop nature reserve, Cape province, and some observations on hunting strategy." ''Ostrich'', 56(1-3), 117-122. This species is considered of
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
as it occurs over a wide range and has shown some adaptability to human-based alterations and destruction of habitat and adaptability to diverse prey when a primary prey species declines in a region. As a large, highly territorial species of owl, it does, however, occur at fairly low densities and some regional declines have been reported. The common name commemorates the French naturalist Jules Verreaux. The type specimen that was later described by Temminck at the
Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (National Museum of Natural History) was a museum on the Rapenburg in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1820 by Royal Decree from a merger of several existing collections including Temminck's own ...
was collected by Verreaux while he was still in his teens.Hume, R. (1991). ''Owls of the world''. Running Press, Philadelphia. 1991.


Taxonomy

There are no known subspecies in the Verreaux's eagle-owl, and there is remarkably little variation in their appearance across their considerable distribution. Reportedly, birds in the southern part of their range appear marginally larger on average but these size differences are quite subtle and may be considered as a mild case of Bergmann's rule. While genetic research has been undertaken for this species, its closest living relative in the genus ''Ketupa'' is not fully clear. At one time, the Verreaux's eagle-owl was mentioned as an owl with particularly mysterious genetic alliances among living owls. Per Konig & Weick (2008), the species with studied genetic markers found to be most closely related are a dark-eyed species pair of Asian eagle-owls, the spot-bellied (''Ketupa nipalensis'') and barred eagle-owls (''Ketupa sumatrana''), but these are not particularly closely related to the Verreaux's. Among species with available genomes to study for DNA characteristics, it has been revealed that the fish owls, in particular the brown fish owl (''Ketupa zeylonensis''), is the third most closely related species to the Verreaux's.Penhallurick, J. M. (2002). ''The taxonomy and conservation status of the owls of the world: a review''. Ecology and conservation of Owls. CSIRO Publishing, Australia, 343-354. Notably, Konig & Weick did not test the DNA of other African eagle-owls that may bear relation to the Verreaux's eagle-owl based largely on their solid dark brown eyes, namely Fraser's (''Ketupa poensis''), greyish (''Bubo cinerascens'') and Shelley's eagle-owl, as opposed to other eagle-owls which have yellow to orange irises. Fraser's and Usambara eagle-owls also have a small amount of bare skin around their eyes but this tends to bluish in color and is not nearly as extensive as the pink seen in Verreaux's. Other large owls native to Africa, the fishing owls, also have uniform dark brownish eyes and are sometimes included with the genus ''Bubo'' but how closely related they are to modern eagle-owls is unclear.
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, indicate that the Verreaux's eagle-owl descended from slightly smaller ancestors that increased in size as they diversified from related species.


Description

Despite the alternative common name of ''giant eagle-owl'', Verreaux's eagle-owl is not the largest owl or eagle-owl in the world. It is, however, a very large and powerful owl species. This species is both the largest owl found in Africa and the world's largest owl to occur in the
tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
. Among all the world's owls, it is fourth heaviest living owl, after Blakiston's fish owl (''Ketupa blakistoni''), the
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
(''Bubo bubo'') and the tawny fish owl (''Ketupa flavipes''). In addition, it is the fourth longest extant owl (measured from the bill to the tip of the tail), after the great gray (''Strix nebulosa''), Blakiston's fish and Eurasian eagle-owls.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), . Based on body mass and wing chord length, Verreaux's eagle-owl is about the same size as "medium-sized" races of Eurasian eagle-owl, such as those from Central Asian
steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...
(''B. b. turcomanus'') and the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
(''B. b. hemachalana''), slightly smaller than most northern
Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
n races, considerably smaller than Siberian and Russian eagle-owls, and somewhat larger than the smallest Eurasian eagle-owl subspecies, such as those from the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
(''B. b. hispanus'') and the Middle East (''B. b. omissus'' or ''nikolskii'').Vaurie, C. (1960). "Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. No. 41, Strigidae, the genus ''Bubo''." ''American Museum Novitates''; no. 2000.Rothschild, W. & Hartert, E. "Notes on eagle-owls". ''Novitates Zoologicae, A Journal of Zoology''.Vaurie, C. (1963). "Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. No. 52, Supplementary notes on ''Bubo bubo''". ''American Museum Novitates''; no. 2132.Qinghu C., Jianping S. & Zhigang J. (2008). "Summer diet of two sympatric species of raptors upland buzzard (''Buteo hemilasius'') and Eurasian eagle owl (''Bubo bubo'') in Alpine meadow: Problem of coexistence." ''Pol. J. Ecol'', 56(1), 173-179. Verreaux's eagle-owl ranges from in total length.''Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi'' by Stevenson & Fanshawe. Elsevier Science (2001), This species has been reported as having an average wingspan of , but Mikkola referenced this as the wingspan of a smaller male.Giant Eagle-Owl
, Arkive
J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott and J. Sargatal, eds. ''Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbird''. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.''Owls of the World: A Photographic Guide'' by Mikkola, H. Firefly Books (2012), The largest known wingspan from a wild female measured nearly .Mendelsohn, J. M., Kemp, A. C., Biggs, H. C., Biggs, R., & Brown, C. J. (1989). ''Wing areas, wing loadings and wing spans of 66 species of African raptors''. ''Ostrich'', 60(1), 35-42. While female owls are almost always larger than males, Verreaux's eagle-owl stands out as one of the most
sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
living owl species, some studies showing the female can average 35% heavier than the male. In comparison, the females of the nominate subspecies of
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
s and
great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...
(''Bubo virginianus'') are reported to average approximately 20% and 25% heavier than the males, respectively. The full range of reported body mass in the species ranges from in males against a body mass of in females.Weick, F. (2007). ''Owls (Strigiformes): annotated and illustrated checklist''. Springer Science & Business Media. In one study, 4 males were found to have averaged while 6 females averaged . Another study found 5 males to have averaged approximately while five females averaged .Musindo, P. T. (2006). ''Morphological variation in bills and claws in relation to Prey type in Southern African Birds of Prey (Orders Falconiformes and Strigiformes)'' (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zimbabwe). Unusually large sizes have been claimed in captivity with claims that specimens measuring up to in length and in wingspan but these are unverified and possibly misreported as these figures match the largest Eurasian eagle-owls. Males heavier than any in the wild have been verified in captivity to weigh up to . Among standard measurements, the female is reported to measure from , averaging , in wing chord, in the tail, while the same measurements in the male are from , averaging , and from in tail length. In both sexes, the tarsus has measured and the bill (in a small sample) . Based on wing chord size compared to body mass and other linear dimensions, the Verreaux's eagle-owl averages somewhat larger in the size of its wings relative to its body size than most other eagle-owls, excluding the Asian fish owls which are also relatively long-winged. Overall, Verreaux's eagle-owl is a fairly uniform and somewhat pale gray, with light and fine brownish vermiculations on the underside. The back is more solidly light brown with white spots on the shoulder. The oval facial disc is paler, sometimes ranging into a whitish color, than the rest of the front side of the bird with strong black borders bracketing either side. One other feature that immediately distinguishes adult Verreaux's eagle-owls in good light are its pink eyelids. The ecological purpose of their colorful eyelids is not known; however, Brown (1965) opined that they replace the colorful yellow to orange eyes of eagle-owls in breeding and territorial displays, since they were very conspicuous in displaying males. Their eyes are dark-brown in color and like all eagle-owls, they have ear-tufts. The ear-tufts are blunter and smaller relative to those of other African eagle-owls. The ear-tufts of this species are relatively subtle and can be missed in the field, especially if they are held lax. In appearance, they are quite easily distinguished if seen well. They are much bigger and bulkier than most other co-occurring owls. The only eagle-owl species in range that approaches its size is the Shelley's eagle-owl (''Ketupa shelleyi''), which may (but is not confirmed to) co-exist with the Verreaux's in northern
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
and the southern sliver of the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
most likely in forest edge and mosaics, but that species is a much darker sooty colour overall with broad black bands on the underside. Shelley's eagle-owl also has considerably different habitat preferences, preferring deep, primary forests, and is much more rarely observed in the wild. The next largest owl in sub-Saharan Africa is the Cape eagle-owl (''Bubo capensis''). The individual home ranges, if not habitats, of the Verreaux's and cape eagle-owls may abut in nearly every part of the latter's distribution. Even in its largest race (Mackinder's eagle-owl, ''B. c. mackinderi'') the cape eagle-owl is around 30% lighter in body mass on average than the Verreaux's eagle-owl, not to mention it being markedly different in almost all outward characteristics.
Pel's fishing owl Pel's fishing owl (''Scotopelia peli'') is a large species of owl in the family Strigidae, found in Africa. It lives near rivers and lakes, and feeds nocturnal animal, nocturnally on fish and frogs snatched from the surface of lakes and rivers. T ...
(''Scotopelia peli''), which occurs in west, central and inland southern Africa and may co-exist with the Verreaux's eagle-owl in much of its range (despite favoring wetland and riparian zones surrounded by wooded areas), can attain similar sizes as the Verreaux's eagle-owl but is dramatically different in color (a rather brighter rufous-cinnamon hue) and lacks ear-tufts. In combination, the characteristics of their pink eyelids, dark eyes, relatively uniform plumage and extremely large size render the Verreaux's eagle-owl as nearly unmistakable.Barlow, C., Wacher, T., & Disley, T. (2005). ''A field guide to birds of The Gambia and Senegal''. Yale University Press.


Voice

The call of the Verreaux's eagle-owl is the deepest of any extant owl species and one of the deepest bird calls in the world, averaging slightly deeper than the calls of the Blakiston's and brown fish owls (''Ketupu zeylonensis''). The calls of Eurasian eagle-owls are less deep but are possibly louder and farther carrying. The male's song is an exceptionally deep ''gwok, gwok, gwonk-gwokwokwok gwokwokwok gwonk''. The depth and quality of the song makes confusion by sound more likely with a
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
(''Panthera pardus'') than any other bird. The song is sometimes considered unmistakable. According to a study in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the voice is considered the second deepest bird call after the southern ground hornbill (''Bucorvus leadbeateri''), though that species has a fairly croaking call reminiscent of a large frog and in recordings appears to have a less sonorous call. Apparently, the song can carry up to away on quiet nights. The female's call is similar but higher pitched, as in all owls to some extent because the larger female tends to have a smaller syrinx.Voous, K.H. 1988. ''Owls of the Northern Hemisphere''. The MIT Press, 0262220350. Like most ''Bubo'' owls, breeding pairs not infrequently call together but they are not as well-synchronized as the pair duets of spotted eagle-owls (''Bubo africanus''), which are often found in nearby ranges. The alarm calls of both sexes are often a sonorous ''whok'' or ''hook'' but variable grunting notes and raspy screams also seem to indicate alarm. Both the female and the young engage in high, piercing calls when begging for food at the nest (at which time the male does the food capture). One other vocalization recorded has included a raspy, drawn-out ''shrooooo-ooo-eh'' apparently uttered as a distraction display mainly by the male near the nest. While sound is important to some degree for inner-species relations and hunting behaviour to all owl species, the Verreaux's eagle-owl appears to have relatively small and uncomplicated ear openings compared to several smaller types of owl. This indicates that the auditory senses are relatively unimportant in this species compared to vision.


Distribution and habitat

Verreaux's eagle-owl is found through most of
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
, though it is absent from most of the deep
rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
s. The species is found at the highest densities in eastern and southern Africa. As this species avoids primary forests, it is found very spottily in west Africa. Their western distribution includes
The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
,
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
and
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
. Eastward from those countries to the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
, the species is distributed in a narrow transitional zone between the Sahara and rainforests. Seemingly isolated populations occur in central
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
and central
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
.Wilson, R. T., & Wilson, M. P. (1981). "Notes on the Giant Eagle Owl ''Bubo lacteus'' in central Mali." ''Ardea'', 69, 205-208. In south-western Africa, they range up to as far north as the southern parts of the
Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
, through most of
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
(excluding the coastal regions) and northern
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. In east Africa, their distribution is more or less continuous from southern
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
,
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
and inland
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
down to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
as far as the region of the city of
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
. This species inhabits mainly
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
with scattered trees and thorny vegetation. Verreaux's eagle-owls mainly inhabit rather dry regions, some bordering semi-arid areas. In central
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, for example, near the extreme northwestern limit of the species range, the habitat that hosts these owls averages less than of rainfall annually. They also range into riverine forest adjacent to savanna and small, semi-open
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...
surrounded by open country, though they are less likely to inhabit heavily wooded habitats.
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n eagle-owls are not infrequently found around
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
s and
marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
es, which may provide the primary nesting habitat in some areas. In
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
, they are largely associated with riparian woodlands. Verreaux's eagle-owl may live at nearly all elevations, from sea level to near the snow-line at around in elevation, such as in the Eastern Rift mountains. However, in general, they only sporadically inhabit
rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...
areas and so are generally very scarce in mountainous regions. The
bushveld The Bushveld (from Afrikaans: ''bosveld'', Afrikaans: ''bos'' 'bush' and ) is a Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. The ecoregion straddles the Tropic of Capricorn ...
of southern Africa is near ideal habitat for Verreaux's eagle-owl and the species may be found at near peak numbers here. The species was historically rare to absent from the
Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid climate, semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African ...
, but the introduction by man of invasive trees like
conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
s,
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
and
acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
s, irrigation areas and prey species has allowed them to spottily occupy this region.


Behavior

Verreaux's eagle-owls are
nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...
birds and roost by day in trees, with large, shaded horizontal branches of tall, old trees being preferred. In
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the most often-used perch trees were '' Croton megalocarpus'' and invasive ''
Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
''. Elsewhere, ''
Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
'' trees may be used habitually.Pitman, C., & Adamson, J. (1978). "Notes on the ecology and ethology of the giant eagle owl, ''Bubo lacteus''." ''Honeyguide'', 95: 26-43. Despite normally choosing dense foliage to rest in, sometimes they may sit wherever their hunting path ends from the prior night, including relatively exposed perches. They reportedly sleep rather lightly and will awaken very quickly to defend themselves from attack in daylight hours. Family groups consisting of breeding pairs and their offspring frequently roost together and may engage in allopreening during this time. Reportedly some family groups include eagle-owls that had hatched up to three years prior, which if accurate is exceptional for any type of owl species. During extremely hot days, this species may flutter its throat for cooling purposes and has been known to bathe in rain and shallow water during extreme heat in the middle of the afternoon but usually drinks when possible during nighttime. Each breeding pair of Verreaux's eagle-owl defends a territory and these may be extremely large, ranging in size up to .


Food and feeding

Verreaux's eagle-owl is considered an avian
apex predator An apex predator, also known as a top predator or superpredator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own. Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the hig ...
, meaning it is at or near the top of the food chain and healthy adults normally have no natural predators. In many known aspects of its hunting behaviour, it is typical of the members of the genus ''Bubo''. This species hunts predominantly in early evening; however, they have been observed to swoop on prey during daylight. They usually fly to a different perch from their daytime roost to use as their habitual hunting perch. Verreaux's eagle-owls mainly hunt by gliding down on their prey from a perch. However, hunting on the wing has been reported, even of flying insects. On occasion, they hunt by flying low over a bush to catch prey by surprise or dash on the wing into dense foliage or through forests to catch a
galago Galagos , also known as bush babies or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...
or other arboreal prey item. They will also sometimes run after prey on the ground, flapping their wings rapidly as they walk, or wade into shallow waters to pin down fish. The wing size of eagle-owls in general limits their flying speed and abilities in the open and so they require perches to execute most of their hunting behaviour.Steyn, P. (1983). ''Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories''. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983. Even among the ''Bubo'' owls, most species of which are known to be highly opportunistic predators with indiscriminating diets, the Verreaux's eagle-owl is a particularly opportunistic predator. While earlier studies characterized
great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...
, one of the most well-studied members of the genus ''Bubo'', as hunting whatever random species they first come across,Errington, P.L. 1932. ''Studies on the Behavior of the Great Horned Owl''. ''Wilson Bulletin'', 12: 212-220. more modern dietary studies have contrarily shown their prey selection is not completely random and that regionally they selected cottontails and
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...
s as prey instead of other foods regardless of prey population trends and became regional specialists on such prey, to such an extent that it predictably causes owl population declines at times when
leporid Leporidae () is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 70 species of extant mammals in all. The family name comes from "Lepus", hare in Latin. Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order Lagomorpha. Leporidae ...
numbers decline.Marti, C. D. (1974). ''Feeding ecology of four sympatric owls''. ''Condor'', 45-61.Adamcik, R. S., A. W. Todd, and L. B. Keith. 1978. ''Demographic and dietary responses of Great Horned Owls during a snowshoe hare cycle''. ''Canadian Field-Naturalist'', 92:156-166. Furthermore, species-wide, great horned owls may select mammals as prey nearly 88% of the time. In contrast, studies have indicated that for the Verreaux's eagle-owl only around 56% of its diet is mammals and no single prey type predictably dominates their prey selection by biomass in multiple regions. To date, more than 100 prey species have been counted for this eagle-owl and, with only about half a dozen comprehensive dietary studies known to have been conducted, this probably only represents a small portion of the total prey selected. Estimated prey size for the species has ranged from insects weighing less than to
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s weighing at least . This is the second broadest size range positively attributed to a single owl species for prey items after the
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
and the largest exceptional upper prey-size also after the Eurasian species.Andrews, Peter (1990) ''Owls, Caves, and Fossils: Predation, Preservation, and Accumulation of Small Mammal Bones in Caves, with an Analysis of the Pleistocene Cave Faunas from Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset, UK'' University of Chicago Press. 231 pg.


Mammals

The prey type most often associated with Verreaux's eagle-owl are
hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...
s. It appears that this species is the only routine predator of hedgehogs in Africa, most other predators of small-to-medium-sized mammals choosing to pursue other abundant mammals without the hedgehog's prickly defenses.Kingdon, J., Happold, D., Butynski, T., Hoffmann, M., Happold, M., & Kalina, J. (2013). ''Mammals of Africa, Volume IV: Hedgehogs, Shrews and Bats''. A&C Black. In both the southernmost, from the western cape of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, and northernmost, a partial study of the foods at nests in central
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, food studies for this species have found hedgehogs to be the most significant contributor of biomass in Verreaux's eagle-owl nests. The two known hedgehog prey species taken are the four-toed hedgehog (''Atelerix albiventris''), which averages in adults, in the north and the southern African hedgehog (''Atelerix frontalis''), which averages in adults, in the south. When capturing hedgehogs, the eagle-owl descends silently with its soft-comb wings and ambushes the hedgehog by imbedding its talons about the face. After death, the hedgehog is skinned of its prickly back before being consumed by either the eagle-owl itself or the young at the nest. This may result in over a dozen hedgehog skins being found around Verreaux's eagle-owl roosts near their nests. The same method of dealing with hedgehogs is utilized by the
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
, which is likewise reported as the only routine predator of hedgehogs in its native continent.Wassink, G. (2010). ''Het dieet van de Oehoe in Nederland en enkele aangrenzende gebieden in Duitsland''. Limosa. 83: 97-108. Studies in other areas have shown that, while hedgehogs are seemingly taken opportunistically, they are at best secondary as contributors of prey both in quantity and biomass. In general, the diet of Verreaux's eagle-owl is seemingly random and highly variable. Eagle-owl species from temperate zones may have no choice but to predate
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s which are rather small and this may require a nesting pair to capture up to a dozen rodents nightly.Marti, C. D., Korpimäki, E., & Jaksić, F. M. (1993). ''Trophic structure of raptor communities: a three-continent comparison and synthesis''. In ''Current Ornithology'' (pp. 47-137). Springer US.Craighead, J. J. and F. C. Craighead, Jr. 1956. ''Hawks, owls and wildlife''. Stackpole Co. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In comparison, the diversity and abundance of rodents is considerably greater in wild areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the Verreaux's eagle-owl seemingly ignores most small rodent species, with no rodent prey species known to average under in adult body mass. In
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the most often recorded prey locally were ''
Tachyoryctes ''Tachyoryctes'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It contains the following species: * Ankole African mole-rat (''T. ankoliae'') * Mianzini African mole-rat (''T. annectens'') * Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat (''T. audax'') * ...
''
mole-rat Mole-rat or mole rat can refer to several groups of burrowing Old World rodents: * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 hystricognath species in six genera from Africa also called blesmols. *'' Heterocephalus glaber'', the naked mole-rat. * Spalac ...
s; however, these were recorded only slightly more often than other genera or species, including non-mammals. Several species of
blesmol The blesmols, also known as mole-rats, or African mole-rats, are burrowing rodents of the family Bathyergidae. They represent a distinct evolution of a Subterranean fauna, subterranean life among rodents much like the pocket gophers of North Am ...
, a separate family also sometimes referred to as mole-rats, have also been recorded as prey. Several
murid In Sufism, a (Arabic ) is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title , or . A or Sufi follower only becomes a when he makes a pledge () to a . The equivalent Pers ...
species have been hunted ranging in size from the southern multimammate mouse (''Mastomys coucha'') to the two non-native ''
Rattus ''Rattus'' is a genus of muroid rodents, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to rodent species outside of this genus. Species and description The best-known ''Rattus'' species are the black rat (''R. rattus'') ...
'' species, including the
brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a brown or grey ...
(''Rattus norvegicus'').Happold, D. C., & Kingdon, J. (Eds.). (2013). ''Mammals of Africa. Volume 3, Rodents, hares and rabbits''. Bloomsbury. Some larger rodents they've hunted have included the
cape ground squirrel The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (''Geosciurus inauris'') is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park. The name ''Cap ...
(''Xerus inauris''), the
Gambian pouched rat The Gambian pouched rat (''Cricetomys gambianus''), also Common name, commonly known as the African giant pouched rat, is a species of nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus ''Cricetomys'', in the Family (biology), family Nesomyidae ...
(''Cricetomys qambianus'') and the lesser cane rat (''Thryonomys gregorianus''). The largest known rodent prey is the
South African springhare The South African springhare (''Pedetes capensis'') () is a medium-sized terrestrial and burrowing rodent. Despite the name, it is not a hare. It is one of two extant species in the genus '' Pedetes'', and is native to southern Africa. Formerly ...
(''Pedetes capensis'') at an average adult weight of . Avery, et al. (1985) opined that springhares may be only taken as carrion as they claim it be too large for the eagle-owl to overpower and indeed at least one South African springhare was fed on as roadkilled carrion. However, Avery, et al. (1985) also acknowledged that adult
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
s of larger size have verifiably been taken alive by the eagle-owls, so it certainly should not be ruled out that they also take live springhares. Many other mammals taken as prey by Verreaux's eagle-owl are seemingly any encountered except the much larger species, especially those that show a propensity for nocturnal or crepuscular activity. This species has hunted bats in several cases from the Lander's horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus landeri''), the smallest known vertebrate prey species known for this eagle-owl, to ''
Rousettus ''Rousettus'' is a genus of Old World fruit bats or megabats, referred to as rousette bats. The genus is a member of the Family_(biology), family Pteropodidae. The genus consists of seven species that range over most of Africa to southeast Asia, ...
'' fruit bats that weigh over . Most other mammalian prey recorded or inferred as hunted by Verreaux's eagle-owl tend to be considerably larger. Both the
scrub hare The scrub hare (''Lepus saxatilis'') is one of two species of hares found in southern Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Although it is listed as a least concern species, the population has been declining and is expected to ...
(''Lepus saxatilis'') and the
cape hare The Cape hare (''Lepus capensis''), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India. Taxonomy The Cape hare was one of the many Mammalia in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, mammal ...
(''Lepus capensis'') have been reported as food, the scrub species estimated to average when taken. In parts of
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the scrub hare can be a particularly significant contributor of biomass to the eagle-owl's diet.Short, L. L., & Horne, J. F. (2006). ''The Avifauna of an Upland Seasonal Woodland in Central Kenya: Ecology, Behavior, Breeding'' (No. 53). Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig. Other assorted mammalian prey species include the golden-rumped elephant shrew (''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'') and the cape hyrax (''Procavia capensis''), although it is possible that juvenile hyraxes are rather more commonly taken than adults. So far as is known, Verreaux's eagle-owl is the only living owl that preys upon multiple species of
primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...
, although isolated incidents of predation (normally on young primates) has been reported in two to three other large, tropical owls. Multiple cases of predation against
galago Galagos , also known as bush babies or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...
s have been reported, unsurprisingly as they represent all nocturnal primates in Africa, although they are seldom identified to species. Known galago prey species have ranged from the Thomas's bushbaby (''Galagoides thomasi'') to the brown greater galago (''Otolemur crassicaudatus'').T. M. Butynski, J. Kingdon, J. Kalina (eds.). 2013. ''Mammals of Africa. Volume II: Primates''. Bloomsbury Publishing, London, United Kingdom, 556 pp. (print).
Monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
are also predated opportunistically. Particularly often reported in foods of the Verreaux's eagle-owl as primates go is the
vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The five distin ...
(''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''). Incidents of successful predation have included vervets that were half-grown, which the eagle-owl was able to fly off with (despite being about as heavy as the eagle-owl itself), and an adult vervet of an estimated weight of , which an eagle-owl took on the ground and subsequently dismembered. However, considering the formidable gauntlet of predators that vervet monkeys face, the Verreaux's eagle-owl is one of its more minor predators and attacks on them may be considered incidental, due in part to the monkey's primarily diurnal activities. Other monkey species believed to be occasionally vulnerable to attacks include the blue monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis''), which is similar in size to the vervet, patas monkeys (''Erythrocebus patas'') and the young of the
chacma baboon The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...
(''Papio ursinus''). Adult patas monkeys, averaging some , can be even larger than vervet monkeys but whether they take prime adults of the species is questionable. There are a few verified cases of Verreaux's eagle-owls feeding on
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s; however, some authors such as Avery, et al. (1985) feel that these generally represent cases of scavenging on carrion. The remains of an adult grysbok (''Raphicerus melanotis''), weighing an estimated , was opined with certainty to have been taken as carrion per this study. Steyn (1982) accepted that this species could take live prey weighing up to on rare occasions; however, he stated in a case of an adult common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia'') being fed on by an eagle-owl that the duiker was likely roadkill. Scavenging on carrion is generally a rare behaviour in owls and has been reported in only a few cases where large owls are exceptionally hungry. Live ungulates verified to have been hunted have included piglets of
common warthog The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today th ...
s (''Phacochoerus africanus''), which have an average birth weight of only but grow to over in just a couple weeks. Adult Kirk's dik-diks (''Madoqua kirkii''), one of the smallest
antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...
species at an average of have also been hunted by Verreaux's eagle-owl. Among mammalian carnivores the bulk of predatory incidents have reportedly involved
mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, A ...
s. Common, social species from savanna-edge such as the yellow mongoose (''Cynictis penicillata'') and the
meerkat The meerkat (''Suricata suricatta'') or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body ...
s (''Suricata suricatta'') have been attacked, as well as larger, shy forest dwellers such as the Jackson's mongoose (''Bdeogale jacksoni'').J. Kingdon, M. Hoffmann (eds.). 2013. ''Mammals of Africa. Volume V: Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses''. Bloomsbury Publishing, London, United Kingdom, 544 pp. An adult Meller's mongoose (''Rhynchogale melleri'') weighing about which was taken by a Verreaux's eagle-owl on the wing represents the second heaviest known object successfully flown with this species after the aforementioned half-grown vervet monkey.Steyn, P. (2010). ''A delight of owls: African owls observed''. Jacana Media. Other smallish carnivores known to fall prey to Verreaux's eagle-owls include the
African striped weasel The African striped weasel (''Poecilogale albinucha''), also known as the white-naped weasel, striped weasel or African weasel, is a small mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa, where its range stretches from as far north as Kenya down south to So ...
(''Poecilogale albinucha'') and its larger cousin, the
striped polecat The striped polecat (''Ictonyx striatus''), also called the African polecat, zoril, zorille, zorilla, African muishond, striped muishond, Cape polecat, and African skunk, is a species of mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. Despite bearing some ...
(''Ictonyx striatus''), which in one nest from the border of the
Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
represented the sole prey species for a pair of eagle-owls. In southern Africa, both the
cape genet The Cape genet (''Genetta tigrina''), also known as the South African large-spotted genet, is a Genetta, genet species endemic to South Africa. As it is common and not threatened, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Like other gene ...
(''Genetta tigrina''), averaging , and the
black-footed cat The black-footed cat (''Felis nigripes''), also called the small-spotted cat, is the smallest wild cat in Africa, having a head-and-body length of . Despite its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown. With its bold small spots ...
(''Felis nigripes''), the smallest felid in Africa, have been included amongst their prey. The Verreaux's eagle-owl is thought to be a threat to even larger carnivores, including the
bat-eared fox The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and a Basal (phylogenetics), basal species of Canidae, canid. Fossil records indicate this canid ...
(''Otocyon megalotis'') and the aardwolf (''Proteles cristata''), although whether healthy adults of the latter are in danger is doubtful. A scientifically-observed attack on an adult male African wildcat (''Felis silvestris cafra''), which can weigh more than about , was aborted after the eagle-owl apparently deemed that the felid was too heavy to take flight with. However, domesticated cats of any size may fall prey to Verreaux's eagle-owl. At Lake Baringo Country Club in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, this eagle-owl has apparently taken to habitually hunting outdoor cats, reportedly making the cats on the grounds highly skittish.


Birds

Verreaux's eagle-owl takes a diverse range of birds as prey. More than 50 avian prey species have been identified and they may locally exceed mammals in importance in the diet, somewhat unusually for eagle-owls. No one type of bird can be said to be predictably favored as prey and any avian species unfortunate enough to have a nighttime roost or nest that happens to be in an eagle-owl's foraging path may fall victim to this species. Many cases of predation involve nest robbery, with nestlings or fledglings being taken, although adult birds may be taken just as often, especially for species with less conspicuous nests. In
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
's De Hoop Nature Reserve, it was found that birds were somewhat better represented by both number, 43.3% of remains, and biomass, 57.84% of remains, than mammals or any other prey group. The species best represented in biomass in the prior study was the black-headed heron (''Ardea melanocephala'') with several adults estimated to average being found among the prey remains. Other fairly common, largish herons are also known to fall prey at night to Verreaux's eagle-owl including the common egret (''Ardea alba''), the
grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...
(''Ardea cinerea'') and the purple heron (''Ardea purpurea''). Other medium-sized
water bird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s known to have been represented in this species diet include the yellow-billed duck (''Anas undulata''), the African black duck (''Anas sparsa''), the African swamphen (''Porphyrio madagascariensis'') and the red-knobbed coot (''Fulica cristata'').Hancock, P., & Weiersbye, I. (2015). ''Birds of Botswana''. Princeton University Press. Besides herons, another well-represented group of birds in the diet are galliforms. Perhaps the most widely preyed species reported from this group is the helmeted guineafowl (''Numida meleagris''), which may seasonally dominate the eagle-owl's food in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. More modestly sized wild galliform species reported in the diet including the
common quail The common quail (''Coturnix coturnix''), or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India. With its ...
(''Coturnix coturnix'') and the
grey-winged francolin The grey-winged francolin (''Scleroptila afra'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Lesotho and South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost co ...
(''Francolinus africanus''). Domestic fowl, especially those allowed back to a semi-feral state and thus sleeping in the open as is prevalent in Africa, are taken when encountered, including
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
s and
peafowl Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
s.Chittenden, H. (2014). "Prey items of Verreaux's Eagle-Owl ''Bubo lacteus'' breeding in suburbia." ''Gabar'' 25: 15–16. Various upland birds recorded as prey include the Namaqua sandgrouse (''Pterocles namaqua''), the rock pigeon (''Columba livia''), the laughing dove (''Streptopelia senegalensis''), the Senegal coucal (''Centropus senegalensis''), the scaly-throated honeyguide (''Indicator variegatus'') and several species of
hornbill Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper ...
, ranging in size from the
northern red-billed hornbill The northern red-billed hornbill (''Tockus erythrorhynchus'') is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found from southern Mauritania through Somalia and northeast Tanzania. There are five species of red-billed hornbills recogni ...
(''Tockus erythrorhynchus'') to the silvery-cheeked hornbill (''Bycanistes brevis''). Among
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
s, the most frequently taken are likely to be
corvid Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Curre ...
s, which are often favored by ''Bubo'' owls from around the world due to their large size, relatively open nests and frequently easy-to-find, communal nocturnal roosts. To date the cape crow (''Corvus capensis'') and pied crow (''Corvus albus'') are the corvids reported in dietary studies. In
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family. The thick-billed raven averages in length, with a range of and we ...
s (''Corvus crassirostris''), which at are possibly the heaviest corvid species in the world, mobbed them vigorously and seemed to consider them a primary threat. Smaller passerines are by no means ignored. White-eyes are among the more frequently taken smaller passerines, with the southern yellow white-eye (''Zosterops anderssoni'') being the smallest identified avian prey species, although penduline tits (''Anthoscopus'' ssp.) are likely to be even smaller.Bubo lacteus (Verreaux's eagle-owl, Giant eagle owl)
. Biodiversityexplorer.org. Retrieved on 2012-08-24.
The largest bird to be hunted by Verreaux's eagle-owl is complicated by the fact that they often take relatively small nestlings of larger species, such as
ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...
es (''Struthio camelus'') and
grey crowned crane The grey crowned crane or gray crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum''), also known as the African crowned crane, golden crested crane, golden crowned crane, East African crane, East African crowned crane, African crane, Eastern crowned crane, ...
s (''Balearica regulorum''). The only avian prey items successfully attacked larger than other types of
birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...
(reviewed later) are likely bustards. Most predation records have reported on relatively small bustards, namely northern (''Afrotis afraoides'') and southern black korhaans (''Afrotis afra''), which average only and , respectively.Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG (eds) 2005. ''Roberts – Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed.'' The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town. Larger species of bustard thought to be threatened by Verreaux's eagle-owl are the Denham's bustard (''Neotis denhami'') and the kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori''), although it is not clear whether adults (especially males) are attacked in the latter species.


Other prey

Reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s and
amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
s are occasional prey for Verreaux's eagle-owls. Various snakes have been included in their diet ranging from the small, innocuous brown house snake (''Boaedon fuliginosus'') at to large and venomous Egyptian cobras (''Naja haje'') weighing over .
Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
s were amongst the prominent prey recorded for suburban-breeding eagle-owls in South Africa, namely the African red toad (''Schismaderma carens'') and the guttural toad (''Amietophrynus gutturalis''). Unidentified frogs were fairly significant in the diet from
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. The largest herpetological prey known is the Nile monitor (''Varanus niloticus''), at a mean mature mass of , these primarily diurnal reptiles can provide a fulfilling meal but can be hard to subdue even if ambushed unaware. Predation on fish has been reported but no fish have been observed firsthand in dietary studies. A surprisingly wide range of
invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...
have been reported in the diet for this species. In some cases, they may prey on insects as small as
termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...
s and even smaller invertebrates have been recorded in pellets such as oribatid mites and ''
Sarcophaga ''Sarcophaga'' is a genus of true flies and the type genus of the flesh-fly family ( Sarcophagidae). The members of this cosmopolitan genus are frequently known as common flesh flies. There are more than 1000 species in ''Sarcophaga''. This ge ...
'' flies, but are likely consumed incidentally while eating a larger item, either from carrion or the stomach of the prey itself.Vernon, C.J. 1980. ''Prey of six species of owl at the Zimbabwe Ruins – 1970-1975''. ''Honeyguide'' 101: 26-28. Unidentified
scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
s,
spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s and
millipede Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...
s have also been reported in their foods. Most attacks on insects involve large
ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it ...
s or
dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. All species of dung beetle belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scara ...
s. Verreaux's eagle-owl has been known to feed on dung beetles among herds of
African buffalo The African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer)'' is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head, referred to ...
(''Syncerus caffer'') by night, boldly diving below the massive bovids’ legs, and will readily feed on beetles among
elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
dung when available.


Interspecies predatory relations

Sub-Saharan Africa has many species of owl, although there is less species diversity than in some areas of similar latitude in the
neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...
s and south Asia. It also hosts the most species of eagle-owl with approximately eight "typical" ''Bubo'' species and all three fishing owl species as well. Due to the diversity here, there are a number of distinctions between habitat preference, primary prey types and body size among the eagle-owls of Africa. The three smallest species of this genus reside solely in Africa, the akun eagle-owl (''Ketupa leucosticta''), the
greyish eagle-owl The greyish eagle-owl or vermiculated eagle-owl (''Bubo cinerascens'') is a rather large owl of the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa. It was previously regarded as the northern subspecies of the spotted eagle-owl (''Bubo africanus''). Descri ...
(''Bubo cinerascens'') and the spotted eagle-owl (''Bubo africanus''), in rough order of increasing size. These species are all primarily insectivores and are much reduced in the size and strength of their feet and talons compared to most other contemporary species, although the spotted eagle-owl can be locally specialized to feed on small
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s as well. While the akun is a primary forest-dweller as are the medium-sized Fraser's and Usambara eagle-owl and large Shelley's eagle-owl and thus is not likely to co-exist with Verreaux's eagle-owls except in rare cases, the northerly-distributed greyish eagle-owl (which was at one point considered merely a subspecies of the spotted) and the southerly-distributed spotted eagle-owl have much more similar habitat preferences to the Verreaux's species. Of the non-piscivorous owls in Africa, the Cape eagle-owl can have a somewhat broad diet and a capability to take large prey but is more specialized to feed on a narrow range of mammals,
mole-rat Mole-rat or mole rat can refer to several groups of burrowing Old World rodents: * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 hystricognath species in six genera from Africa also called blesmols. *'' Heterocephalus glaber'', the naked mole-rat. * Spalac ...
s often supplemented with
rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (from some interpretations of a word used in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Common ...
, than the Verreaux's eagle-owl. The Cape eagle-owl has a fairly strong preference for nesting and hunting within the confines of rocky and mountainous habitats, whereas the Verreaux's is at best sporadic in such areas.Voous, K. H. (1966). "The distribution of owls in Africa in relation to general zoogeographical problems." ''Ostrich'', 37(S1), 499-506. In east Africa and South Africa, habitat degradation has allowed the more adaptable Verreaux's eagle-owl to move into areas inhabited by cape eagle-owls and has presented the possible issue of the Verreaux's competitively excluding the smaller species. Outside of the genus ''Bubo'', other owls in Africa are much smaller than Verreaux's eagle-owls and are more likely to be viewed as prey than competition. Among the small-to-mid-sized owls that have fallen prey to this species are the
barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...
(''Tyto alba'') and the
African grass owl The African grass owl or simply grass owl (''Tyto capensis'') is a species of owl in the barn owl family, Tytonidae. Description The African grass owl resembles the Western barn owl, barn owl and has a heart shaped whitish-cream facial disc, w ...
(''Tyto capensis''), both of which average around in body mass in Africa, the marsh owl (''Asio capensis'') and the southern white-faced owl (''Ptilopsis granti''). The only verified interactions with other typical eagle-owls have been predatory, as the spotted eagle-owl has been recorded among their prey in a few cases. There are several owls with broadly similar habitat preferences from African scops owls (''Otus senegalensis'') to African wood owls (''Strix woodfordii'') that have not been reported as food but are almost certainly occasionally threatened by Verreaux's eagle-owls. As is commonly the case with eagle-owls, the Verreaux's eagle-owl is perhaps the most serious predatory threat to diurnal raptors in its range, most often ambushing raptors on their prominent nests upon nightfall and freely killing birds of prey of any age from nestlings to adults. Such prey is not quantitatively significant as a food source but since raptors as a rule are sparsely distributed the habitual visitation of a single or pair of Verreaux's eagle-owl can potentially be devastating to a local population. Among the species of small-to-medium-sized raptors known to be attacked are the African harrier-hawk (''Polyboroides typus''), the pale chanting goshawk (''Melierax canorus''), the African marsh harrier (''Circus ranivorus''), the scissor-tailed kite (''Chelictinia riocourii''), the African goshawk (''Accipiter tachiro'') the
common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus '' Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of ...
(''Buteo buteo'') and the Wahlberg's eagle (''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'').Fry, C. H., Keith, S. & Urban, E. K. 1988. ''The Birds of Africa Vol. 3''. Academic Press, London. There are reports of Verreaux's eagle-owls attacking even larger raptorial birds. A case of the Verreaux's eagle-owl killing an adult
Pel's fishing owl Pel's fishing owl (''Scotopelia peli'') is a large species of owl in the family Strigidae, found in Africa. It lives near rivers and lakes, and feeds nocturnal animal, nocturnally on fish and frogs snatched from the surface of lakes and rivers. T ...
in
Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
was verified. At roughly in body mass, the fishing owl is of nearly the same size as the eagle-owl. Cases where they've attacked the nests of particularly large diurnal birds of prey have sometimes involved only nestlings being victimized, such as attacks on the hooded vulture (''Necrosyrtes monachus'') and the bateleur (''Terathopius ecaudatus''); none of the adults, which are about the same average adult body mass as the Verreaux's eagle-owls, have been reported as prey. However, in some even larger birds of prey, adults as well as nestlings and fledglings have been killed. Successful nighttime attacks have been reported on adults of the
African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Icthyophaga vocifer'') or the African sea eagle is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, ...
(''Haliaeetus vocifer'') and the secretarybird (''Sagittarius serpentarius''). In the
Matobo Hills The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced t ...
of
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
, the Verreaux's eagle-owl has been considered as one of the inferred predators of
Verreaux's eagle Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis'') of south and southeast Asia. ...
(''Aquila verreauxii''), although whether adults or only nestlings are vulnerable is not definitely clear. Other than these rare cases, larger birds of prey such as eagles are not usually harassed by Verreaux's eagle-owl and are more aptly viewed as competitors. In fact, the martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is sometimes regarded as the diurnal ecological equivalent of the Verreaux's eagle-owl. The martial eagle has rather similar habitat preferences to the eagle-owl and has a similarly broad, opportunistic diet. At roughly in average body mass, the martial eagle is roughly twice as heavy as Verreaux's eagle-owl and takes correspondingly large prey, its average prey weight range being and the eagles are capable of exceptionally taking prey up to nearly nine times their own weight, whereas most of the eagle-owls prey does not exceed . Verreaux's eagle-owl is likely to give martial eagles a respectful space during daytime and there are no records of the two species harassing one another.Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. (2001). ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Another particularly large and aggressive eagle, the crowned eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), is largely a forest-dweller and so is less directly a diurnal equivalent. There is a single recorded instance of an immature crowned eagle being aggressively displaced at night by an adult Verreaux's eagle-owl when it happened to encroach on the eagle-owl's territory but without bloodshed and eagle-owls would do well to avoid the exceptionally powerful eagle. Taken together, the Verreaux's, the Shelley's and the Cape eagle-owls could be seen as nocturnally replacing the eagle species of martial, crowned and Verreaux's eagles in the respective habitats of savanna, forest and rocky areas but their increasingly diminishing size in comparison to the diurnal eagles means that, generally speaking, less large-bodied prey is likely to be attacked. Despite its place near the top of the nocturnal avian food chain, in 2013 a remote wildlife camera videotaped a
black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas'') is a medium-sized Caninae, canine native to East Africa, eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly . One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, includin ...
(''Canis mesomelas'') attacking and killing a Verreaux's eagle owl at a watering hole. Similar rare successful attacks on
great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...
s and
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
s by smaller
red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
es (''Vulpes vulpes'') have been reported, but in these cases the horned owl was mysteriously grounded and the eagle-owl was nesting in too-easily accessed sea cliffs. More often foxes are prey rather than predators for northern ''Bubo'' owls.Jaksić, F. M., & Marti, C. D. (1984). "Comparative food habits of ''Bubo'' owls in Mediterranean-type ecosystems." ''Condor'', 288-296.Leditznig, C., Leditznig, W., & Gossow, H. (2001). "15 Jahre Untersuchungen am Uhu (''Bubo bubo'') im Mostviertel Niederösterreichs-Stand und Entwicklungstendenzen." ''Egretta'', 44: 45-73. Given that the Verreaux's eagle-owl is surprisingly bold about coming to their ground to, among other things capture beetles, feed on prey too large to carry in flight or, as is likely the case in the jackal attack, drink water, it is possible that the jackal was simply able to ambush an incautious eagle-owl rather than a grounded one. Perhaps even more unexpectedly, an adult bateleur was filmed killing a Verreaux's eagle-owl by day, though whether this was predation or a competitive or anti-predatory attack is unclear.


Breeding

In the heart of their distribution, i.e. east Africa, breeding activity in this species can peak any time from February to September, but can occur nearly any month at the species level. The timing of breeding is said to be correspondent roughly to the regional dry season, so averages earlier in the northern part of the range (before February) and later (July to September) in the southern part of the range such as
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. In the northern part of the range, breeding season commenced in November in
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, in November and December in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, December in
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
and January in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. The monogamous pair is quite stable, most likely mating for life. As in most owls, a courtship display is both to establish mates for a newly mature pair of eagle-owls or to strength pair bonds prior to nesting. Vocalizations during courtship displays consist of relatively rapid and excited calling, hooting and whining. The pair during courtship will bow to one another, flick open their wings and preen each other's feathers, with the male taking the more active part in the courtship ritual. Like all raptorial birds, Verreaux's eagle-owls are strongly territorial. The pair will defend their territory by their song and sometimes (though rarely) through duets. The territories of Verreaux's eagle-owls can range up to 7,000 hectares in size, although average territory sizes are seemingly unknown. Like
great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...
s, but unlike
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
s, the Verreaux's eagle-owls normally uses old nests built by other birds as their own nests. Usage of a nest site other than those constructed by other birds is considered rarer even than in the horned owl and is viewed as almost exceptional in some parts of this species range. Existent reports of this species building its own nest are certain to be dubious, as no known living owl builds a nest and only a small handful of owl species have been verified adding a small amount of nesting material to an existing surface or nest. The variety of bird nests they use is extreme. Large stick nests in sturdy trees are generally used. In southern Africa, recorded nest heights have ranged from off the ground. Like other ''Bubo'' owls, the large nest of large-bodied accipitrids are often popular for use, due to the often huge size and sturdiness of construction typical in this family, with the nest builders devoting up to four months to their construction. However, perhaps the constructor of nests that most often host Verreaux's eagle-owls are
hamerkop The hamerkop (''Scopus umbretta'') is a medium-sized bird. It is the only living species in the genus ''Scopus (bird), Scopus'' and the family (biology), family Scopidae. The species and family was long thought to sit with the Ciconiiformes but ...
s (''Scopus umbretta''). In everywhere from
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
the eagle-owl has been recorded using old nests built by this species. The unusual, massive nest is an enclosed circle of sticks with a side entrance that are often very large relative to the size of the hamerkop, a smallish, compact wading bird. Usually the eagle-owls nest on the flat top of the hamerkop nest rather than the interior which is usually too small for the eagle-owls to enter and this can provide a rather safe structure for the eagle-owl family to call home. Other nest builders which are popular as hosts are vultures,
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
s (at least eight species have built nests used by these eagle-owls), secretarybirds,
crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
s and even much smaller birds such as weavers, which build huge communal nest structures which the eagle-owls then similarly nest on top of. Most nests are already abandoned when the Verreaux's eagle-owl take over it, in large accipitrids for example, many build alternate nests which are not used for years on end. However, if the nest is occupied, the Verreaux's eagle-owl pair readily displaces the occupants and sometimes feeds on the birds in them. Species known to be successfully displaced from their nests have ranged up in size to lappet-faced vultures (''Torgos tracheliotos''), which are more than three times heavier on average than the Verreaux's eagle-owl. In some cases, hamerkops have been known to try to defend their nest from the eagle-owls but are usually chased away. Verreaux's eagle-owls have been known to displace other opportunistic nest usurpers such as other owls and
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
s in order to take over nest structures for themselves. In one case, a pair of eagle-owls nested on top of a hamerkop nest while the interior of the nest was occupied by Egyptian geese (''Alopochen aegyptiacus''), an unusual aggressive species of waterfowl that uses nests built by other species. In rare cases, Verreaux's eagle-owls have been recorded using large, old hollows, the stem of a
palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...
tree or on a very dense tangle of creepers or orchids instead of birds' nests as a nesting site. On average, the female lays two white eggs, which typically measure , with a range in height of and a range in width of . The eggs weigh from , the upper weight being the mean mass of the first egg and the lower weight being the mean mass of the second egg. The eggs are reportedly laid at up to 7 day intervals and may take up nearly seven days as well between hatching. Most nest reportedly contain two eggs, but some may contain only one, and no more than two has been recorded in this species. The adult female incubates the eggs for 33 to 39 days, the incubation stage being slightly longer than those of most other eagle-owls, at least the more northern species. On average at hatching, the young weigh about . The weight of the nestling can triple within five days after hatching. Due to the extreme interval between the hatching of the first and the second egg, the older owlet is always considerably larger than the second. As is widely reported in different kinds of raptorial birds, the smaller chick usually dies in the nest. This may be due to starvation upon being outcompeted for food by the older chick or the smaller chick may be being attacked and killed by its older sibling. Usually the smaller chick is gone within two weeks after hatching in this species. In rare cases, both chicks are reared and survive to leave the nest, although there are no known cases of two fledglings resulting from a Verreaux's eagle-owl nest in southern Africa. The young are covered in off-white down from hatching on and the pink eyelids may become apparent within the first week of life. By three weeks of age, the chicks down will thicken and darken to a greyish colour with some barring present. By six weeks, the young eagle-owl will start to somewhat resemble an adult, replete with the blackish brackets on the facial disc of the adult but still being fairly downy, particularly about the head. Only a week later, almost all the down is likely to be moulted. The mother Verreaux's eagle-owl remains on the nest for nearly the entire incubation period while the male hunts for food for both of them. During the brooding stage, which lasts about 20 days after hatching, the female is still fed by the male, but resumes hunting thereafter. During the incubation and brooding stage, the male usually roosts near the nest during the day while the female continually sits about the nest. After the brooding stage, the female normally takes to a perch within a dozen or so metres of the nest. Both parents may use a favor perch near the nest at which they dismantle prey into pieces that can be more easily consumed by their young, these may be called "plucking" perches where birds are more commonly eaten or "peeling" perches where hedgehogs are the most regular prey. Most dietary studies for the species have been from researching the pellets and skins under such perches. The female is an extremely tight sitter both while incubating and brooding, and may not even be displaced from the nest even if shouted at or the tree is struck. When intruders approach too closely, including other eagle-owls, potential predators and humans, the most common response of the parent Verreaux's eagle-owl is to grunt lowly, often raising its ear-tufts and bill-clapping. Both sexes may engage in distraction displays when the area near the nest is encroached, but it usually the male and most displays occur during nighttime but are possible at any time of day or night. During such displays, the adult will fly over the ground with drooping wings, or alights and drags its wings and flaps about, often while bill-clacking and calling. Similar injury-feigning distraction displays have been recorded in the
Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...
and smaller owl species but are not known in most other ''Bubo'' species. In one case, feral dogs were successfully lured away from a young Verreaux's eagle-owl by its parents’ distraction display after the young bird had fallen to the ground. In rare cases, the parent eagle-owls will attack interlopers. In one such case, a person who picked up a young eagle-owl on the ground was severely injured after both parents attacked him. On average, the young Verreaux's eagle-owl leaves the nest at around 62–63 days but cannot fly at this point. It may take roughly anywhere from another two weeks to a month after this before the fledgling is a competent flier. After leaving the nest, the fledgling is "remarkably inactive", making a minimum of effort to fly, and usually selecting a roost within a few feet of the nest which it has awkwardly climbed to or will drop to a large bush below the nest. In the nest, the chick will beg for food with a shrill or chittering noise, sometimes bobbing its head or swaying about and transferring its weight between its feet (sometimes called a "hunger dance") and it continues to rely on its parents for food well after leaving the nest. Sometimes after leaving the nest, the young eagle-owls are mobbed as are adults by other birds of prey and crows during the day, which is often heatedly directed at this species as adult eagle-owls regularly kill these birds at night. The young eagle-owl may dodge to denser branches to avoid being wounded during such attacks. Young Verreaux's eagle-owls may fall to the ground, often as a result of mobbing. If the young bird is discovered on the ground, it may feign death, lying prone with its head lax and its eyes closed. Even if picked up while death-shamming, the young eagle-owl may remain moribund. Upon being left without disturbance after "playing dead", the young Verreaux's eagle-owl will gradually open its eyes and return to a normal state. It is not until they are about 5 months old do most young Verreaux's eagle-owl show the ability to capture prey for themselves. However, the stage at which the young of this species becomes independent appears remarkably variable. One ringed 9-month-old moved away from its nest area and was thus seemingly fully independent. On the other hand, Verreaux's eagle-owls of over half-a-year in age who presumably can fly and hunt on their own have been seen to linger and continue to beg its parents to be fed into the next breeding season, and may even be fed by their father while he is also feeding the mother and a new nestling. In
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, when a biologist fed a wild juvenile eagle-owl
mole-rat Mole-rat or mole rat can refer to several groups of burrowing Old World rodents: * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 hystricognath species in six genera from Africa also called blesmols. *'' Heterocephalus glaber'', the naked mole-rat. * Spalac ...
s and chicken heads in its nest area, the young eagle-owl apparently became remarkably confiding towards the person. The tendency of young eagle-owls to linger into the next breeding season sometimes results in "family groups" roosting together, a very unusual occurrence for an eagle-owl species. One such group consisted of five birds together, including two parents and three owls from the preceding past three years and apparently the younger eagle-owls even helped bring food for the chick once the egg hatched. On average, sexual maturity in Verreaux's eagle-owls appears to be attained at three to four years of age. In most cases, a pair of Verreaux's eagle-owl is able to nest annually; however, in some cases they may nest only every two to three years, in probable situations of extreme food shortages. Annual mortality appears to be fairly low in this large owl species. Few species have been reported to hunt Verreaux's eagle-owls short of the aforementioned jackal attack, even nests have rarely been seen to be predated, although they may on rare occasions run foul of some predators such as larger
felid Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the gre ...
s with the ability to climb. That young birds usually leave the nest before they can fly would appear to endanger them but the threat and distraction display of parent eagle-owls are apparently often successful. Adult eagle-owls can appear nearly fearless, as they have been reported to stand their ground and engage in threat displays when encountered on or near the ground against much larger animals such as
rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
es and
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
s, and in such cases are apparently not approached further by the bigger animals although the eagle-owls could easily be killed by such animals if contact was made. The lifespan in the wild is not known; however, in captivity the species can live for over 15 years, and possibly up to 30 years in some cases.


Status

Verreaux's eagle-owl is a seldom-encountered species, occurring at low densities and needing large territories for hunting and breeding purposes. The threats faced by this species are sadly typical of many large birds of prey from around the world. Not infrequently, they are locally rare due to persecution. The normal cause of persecution is their possible status as predators of small domestic stock, though this is certain to be rare, at least in areas with substantial wild prey populations. An additional threat is the residual effects of pesticides, as poison (usually through rodenticide or poisoned carcasses left out for scavengers such as jackals) consumed through prey may badly affect them. They may be killed by flying into novel man-made objects, including wires and massive dams along reservoirs. Habitat destruction can also affect them, as they require ample trees with large bird nests in order to take residence in a given area. In some areas, however, they've been shown to be able to nest in peri-urban or suburban areas, showing greater adaptability to human-based land changes than many other large birds of prey. In
Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, the species is considered Near Threatened and the species has been recommended for threatened status in southern Africa overall.Jenkins, A. R. (2008). ''A proposed new list of the threatened raptors of southern Africa''. ''Gabar'', 19(1), 27-40. In west Africa and central Africa, the habitat is often marginal for this species, the distribution is sporadic and thus this eagle-owl is only encountered either uncommonly or rarely. The greatest regional stronghold for Verreaux's eagle-owls is seemingly east Africa, in countries such as
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, which may have numbers comparable to pre-colonial times. At the species level, they are widespread and currently not considered to be threatened with extinction.


References

*''Owls of the World'' by Konig, Weick & Becking. Yale University Press (2009),


External links

* (Giant Eagle-Owl =) Verreaux's Eagle-Owl â€
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q675783
Verreaux's eagle-owl Verreaux's eagle-owl (''Ketupa lactea''), also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family Strigidae. This species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. A member of the genus '' Ketupa'', it is the largest A ...
Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa
Verreaux's eagle-owl Verreaux's eagle-owl (''Ketupa lactea''), also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family Strigidae. This species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. A member of the genus '' Ketupa'', it is the largest A ...