Akun Eagle-Owl
Ketupa leucosticta
A small insectivorous eagle-owl that sallies to catch flying insects from mid-canopy perches near openings in lowland forest. Has a distinctive pale belly with large dark spots, a brownish-gray face and back, yellow eyes, and a banded tail. Vocalizations include soft grunts, a short ascending or descending whistled “woooh,” and short trilled calls. Vocalizations can resemble those of other eagle-owls within its range, but Akun Eagle-Owl’s distinctive pale belly and large, obvious spotting on a mostly white chest are unique.
Identification
The akun eagle-owl is one of the smaller eagle-owls, it has predominantly hark to reddish-brown head and upperparts, with pale, dusky brown bars on the wings and back, and white markings around the shoulders. There are two large "ear" tufts on the head which are dark brown with white spots, while the eyes are pale yellow. The upper breast is light reddish-brown and marked with dark bars, while the lower breast, belly and vent are white, with reddish-brown vermiculations and large blackish spots. Juveniles have a whitish head and body, with reddish-brown barring and brown wings and tail. The usual call is a low, accelerating, clucking rattle and when alarmed it produces an unusual quacking sound.
Taxonomy
The akun eagle-owl was formally described in 1855 by the German ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub from a specimen collected in Ghana. Hartlaub placed the owl in the genus Bubo and coined the binomial name Buco leucostictus. The specific epithet leucostictus is from Ancient Greek leukostiktos which means "white-speckled". The akun eagle-owl is now placed in the genus Ketupa that was introduced in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The common English name, akun, is from the local name for the owl in southwest Camaroon. The local name "Akuñ" was recorded by the collector George Latimer Bates near Grand Batanga and published in 1904 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe.
- Scientific name
- Ketupa leucosticta
- Authority
- (Hartlaub, 1855)
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Ketupa
Range and habitat
The akun eagle-owl has a patchy range that extends through a number of the west African countries which have coastlines on the Gulf of Guinea, from Guinea east to Cameroon and south to Angola, extending inland into the southern Central African Republic, Congo and northern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.<p>The Akun eagle-owl is found mainly in lowland primary and secondary rainforest, particularly around forest edges and clearings, and also along the edges of rivers and on forested river islands.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Like most owls the akun eagle-owl is a nocturnal species emerging from its daytime roost at dusk to hunt. It's unusual for an eagle owl in that it apparently feeds almost exclusively on insects, its small feet and a relatively weak bill prevent it from tackling larger prey. Its main prey are beetles, cicadas and locusts, which are either gleaned from foliage or taken in flight before being brought back to a perch, held in the feet and ripped into small pieces with the bill. Little is known regarding the breeding biology of the Akun eagle-owl. In west Africa it appears to lay eggs around the period from November to January, and young owlets have been recorded in the nest in Liberia between February and April. As in some other eagle-owls, the Akun eagle-owl builds its nest on the ground.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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