2w ago

Congo Bay Owl

Rare and rediscovered in the Itombwe Forest of Eastern Congo... the Itombwe Owl (also known as the Congo Bay Owl or African Bay Owl).

I thought all these bay owls were in Asia, so I was surprised to find this species in Africa. I'll have to do some more investigation!

6 comments

He looks sleepy
- I like this face. They get a little bug eyed with their eyes open. Check out my reply to another comment for some good Bay Owl face.
  
  Your owl stuff is always great so I'll take a look
Barn owls live pretty much all over the world, right? Never heard of bay owls, but this one looks like a cousin of a barn owl.
- The barn owls are everywhere, and there's more types than the mostly white ones you are probably thinking of. This guy does have a lot of looks in common with the bay owls, but those are pretty far from central Africa, so I was surprised there was such a large gap with no bay owls. I found a great article on this guy since I made this post that I'll share this week that covers its genealogy.
  The family Tytonidae is split into 2 genus groups, Tyto (barn owls) and Phodilus (bay owls). Spoiler alert - this owl was named when people thought it was a Phodilus, but recent studies now classify it as a Tyto. You're ahead of the curve, grouping it with the barn owls!
  Here's the two actual bay owls:
  Oriental Bay Owl
  Sri Lanka Bay Owl

6 comments