Typical Owls (Strigidae)

African Scops-owl (Otus senegalensis) - HBW 5, p. 163

French: Petit-duc africain German: Afrika-Zwergohreule Spanish: Autillo Africano

Taxonomy: Scops Senegalensis Swainson, 1837, Gambia.
Probably forms superspecies with O. brucei, O. scops, O. sunia and O. flammeolus. Formerly considered conspecific with O. scops, but separated specifically on basis of differences in voice, plumage and size. Races socotranus and pamelae sometimes placed with O. brucei, but closer to present species, or may even be specifically distinct. Several additional races described on basis of differences in plumage, morphology and/or size: populations from C Ethiopia to Somalia and N Kenya, from NE Zaire and W Uganda, and from Swaziland and E Cape Province sometimes separated as, respectively, caecus, ugandae and latipennis, but probably only colour morphs; birds described from S Sudan and NW Ethiopia (pygmea), E Kenya and Tanzania (graueri), Angola E to Malawi (hendersonii), E Malawi to N Mozambique (pusillus) and Namibia to N Natal and S Mozambique (intermedius) poorly differentiated and seem to fall within range of variation of nominate. Five subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

senegalensis (Swainson, 1837) - from Senegal and Sierra Leone E to NW Ethiopia and Somalia, S (except in SE Kenya) to SE South Africa.
pamelae Bates, 1937 - S Saudi Arabia.
socotranus (Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes, 1899) - Socotra I.

See all 5 subspecies

senegalensis (Swainson, 1837) - from Senegal and Sierra Leone E to NW Ethiopia and Somalia, S (except in SE Kenya) to SE South Africa.
pamelae Bates, 1937 - S Saudi Arabia.
socotranus (Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes, 1899) - Socotra I.
feae (Salvadori, 1903) - Annobon I (Pagalu), in S Gulf of Guinea.
nivosus Keith & Twomey, 1968 - SE Kenya (lower Tana R to Lali Hills).