Akun Eagle-Owl Bubo leucostictus - some photos and notes

Akun Eagle-owl Bubo leucostictus

Ankasa, Ghana
May 2011

The Akun Eagle-owl is distributed in West Africa from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Cameroon, south to the mouth of the Congo and east to north-west Angola. It is found in lowland forest and forest edges including secondary growth.

It is the only owl in West Africa with yellow eyes. The bill is greenish olive and the upperparts are dark brown with fine vermiculations. The facial disc has a narrow, dusky rim.

It feeds mainly on large insects but I think that the red spot in photo 1 might be the flash reflecting in the eye of a bat that the owl was chasing.

Two vocalisations in the following recording are a series of knocking notes and a high-pitched wailing heuuuw which, according to König, is the female begging for food.

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