# Greyish eagle-owl

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Species of owl

Greyish eagle-owl Greyish eagle-owl in a cave at the Cliffs near Lake Baringo, Kenya Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] CITES Appendix II [2] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae Genus: Bubo Species: B. cinerascens Binomial name Bubo cinerascens Guérin-Méneville, 1843

The **greyish eagle-owl** or **vermiculated eagle-owl** (***Bubo cinerascens***) is a rather large owl of the northern part of sub-Saharan [Africa](/source/Africa). It was previously regarded as the northern subspecies of the spotted eagle-owl (*Bubo africanus*).

Lake Bogoria, Kenya

## Description

This species is about 43 cm (17 in) long and weighs about 500 g (18 oz).[3] Like the spotted eagle-owl, the greyish eagle-owl has mottled dark brown, buff, and white upperparts and finely barred (vermiculated) underparts giving a greyish-brown appearance. It differs from the spotted eagle-owl in having dark brown (not yellow) eyes and a brownish facial disk marked with a heavy brown circle around each eye.[4] It also has morphological differences, such as being lighter though about the same length and having shorter tarsi.

## Voice

As the greyish eagle-owl was considered the northern form of the spotted eagle-owl until recently their vocalisations have not been well studied. The call of the male recorded in West Africa consisted of two clear syllables and has been rendered as "*koo-whoo*" where the "*koo*" part is rather explosive and the "*whoo*" is somewhat downward inflected, lower pitched and extended. This call is made every few seconds and is thus not similar to that of the spotted eagle-owl.[5]

## Distribution and habitat

It is found in the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa from [Mauritania](/source/Mauritania) and [Liberia](/source/Liberia) east to [Sudan](/source/Sudan) and [Somalia](/source/Somalia).[6] Its habitats include dry rocky deserts and open savannah, as well as lowland forests in Somalia.[3]

## Biology

Roosts during the day are hidden and vary from rocky natural sites such as cliff crevices and boulders to bushes and trees to man-made structures. It feeds on larger insects and other large arthropods as well as vertebrates. It usually hunts from a perch, using a sit-and-wait technique, but may also hawk insects and sometimes bats in flight. The breeding biology is probably similar to the spotted eagle-owl. It lays 2 or 3 eggs in a scrape on the ground or among rocks or in a sheltered cliff site, although it will sometimes reuse the old platform-like nests of larger birds in trees.[5]

## Taxonomic note

It is closely related to the [spotted eagle-owl](/source/Spotted_eagle-owl), of which is it sometimes considered the northern subspecies, *Bubo africanus cinerascens*.[4][6] In the area of overlap with the spotted eagle-owl in [Kenya](/source/Kenya) and the [Horn of Africa](/source/Horn_of_Africa), the two species are not known to interbreed.[3][5]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-iucn_status_12_November_2021_1-0)** BirdLife International (2016). ["*Bubo cinerascens*"](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61741660/95178482). *[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](/source/IUCN_Red_List)*. **2016** e.T61741660A95178482. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T61741660A95178482.en](https://doi.org/10.2305%2FIUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T61741660A95178482.en). Retrieved 12 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Appendices | CITES"](https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php). *cites.org*. Retrieved 2022-01-14.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Weick_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Weick_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Weick_3-2) Weick, Friedhelm (2006), *Owls (Strigiformes): Annotated and Illustrated Checklist*, Springer, pp. 111–113, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-540-35234-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-540-35234-1)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ZTP_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ZTP_4-1) Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A.; Pearson, David J. (1999), *Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania*, Princeton University Press, pp. 128–9, 374, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-01022-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-01022-9)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Owls_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Owls_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Owls_5-2) König, Claus; Weick, Friedhelm; Becking, Jan-Hendrick (1999). *Owls A Guide to the Owls of the World*. Pica Press. pp. 301–302. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-873403-74-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-873403-74-7).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Avibase_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Avibase_6-1) Lepage, Denis (2003–2007), [*Avibase - the world bird database*](https://web.archive.org/web/20041026214545/http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/avibase.jsp?pg=summary), archived from [the original](http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/avibase.jsp?pg=summary&lang=EN&id=B4E343C320E09F2C&ts=1190523284250) on October 26, 2004, retrieved Sep 22, 2007

## External links

- [Videos of the Greyish Eagle-Owl](http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/greyish-eagle-owl-bubo-cinerascens) from the Internet Bird Collection

Taxon identifiers Bubo cinerascens Wikidata: Q200411 Wikispecies: Bubo cinerascens ADW: Bubo_cinerascens Avibase: 0018A99BB5322E8D BirdLife: 61741660 BOW: graeao1 CoL: NKSL eBird: graeao1 EoL: 1036390 GBIF: 5959117 iNaturalist: 144593 IRMNG: 11277766 ITIS: 686685 IUCN: 61741660 NCBI: 748876 Open Tree of Life: 1035384 Species+: 8588 Xeno-canto: Bubo-cinerascens

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Greyish eagle-owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyish_eagle-owl) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyish_eagle-owl?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.