Typical Owls (Strigidae)
African Wood-owl (Strix woodfordii) - HBW 5, p. 204
French: Chouette africaine
German: Afrikanischer Waldkauz
Spanish: Cárabo Africano
Other common names: Woodford’s Owl
Taxonomy: Noctua Woodfordii A. Smith, 1834, Knysna, Cape Province.
This species, along with Neotropical S. virgata, S. nigrolineata, S. huhula and S. albitarsus, sometimes placed in separate genus Ciccaba on basis of differences in external ear structure compared with Strix, but DNA studies show that generic separation not warranted. Birds from Sokoke Forest in Kenya sometimes separated as sokokensis; populations described from Central African Republic to Sudan and S Zaire (as bohndorffi) considered not separable from other races. Four subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- nuchalis (Sharpe, 1870) - Senegambia E to S Sudan and Uganda, S to N Angola and Zaire (except S & E), including Bioko I.
- umbrina (Heuglin, 1863) - Ethiopia and SE Sudan.
- nigricantior (Sharpe, 1897) - S Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and E Zaire.
- woodfordii (A. Smith, 1834) - S Angola and S Zaire E to SW Tanzania, S to N Botswana and the Cape.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird in a nestbox Locality World of Birds, Cape Town, Western Cape Province, South Africa
Jordi Sargatal 15 August 1998 5 years ago 12 sec 3.4 -
front view spotlighted Locality Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda (ssp nuchalis)
Martin Kennewell 2 June 2004 42 weeks ago 45 sec 3.3 -
one at day time roost, perched overhead on the rain Locality Dinsho, Bale Mountains National Park, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (ssp umbrina)
Martin Kennewell 28 October 2010 1 year ago 22 sec 3.3 -
Two birds roosting in a tree, at day time Locality Okavango Delta, North-West District, Botswana (ssp woodfordii) (Monotypic species)
Josep del Hoyo 26 July 1998 5 years ago 15 sec 3.2 -
A short sequence in the early hours of the night, in which a bird takes flight from a perch (slow-motion) Locality Shakawe, North-West District, Botswana (ssp woodfordii)
Fran Trabalon 16 November 2011 24 weeks ago 4 sec 2.3
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African Wood Owl sitting on a branch.
Locality Kabwe, Central Province, Zambia
Donald Burton 7 January 2011 1 year ago 4.3 -
part of a couple
Locality Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya
Marco Valentini 7 February 2012 13 weeks ago 3.6 -
A bird roosting
Locality Shakawe, North-West District, Botswana
Aleix Comas 1 September 2007 2 years ago 3 -
African Wood-Owl (Strix woodfordii)
Locality Bale Mountains National Park, Oromia Region, Ethiopia
Guy Poisson 3 February 2010 1 year ago 2.5
- No sound recordings available yet
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