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The least cute owl? An introduction to the Verreaux Eagle Owl (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Somewhat clickbait headline, but this is the last owl for me to come to appreciate in an aesthetic way. I at least want to give it the courtesy of sharing it with you all, and maybe the skeptics among us can find something in this owl.

The currently named Verreaux Eagle Owl is named after a not so nice person, which doesn't help it start off on the best note. Verreaux was a grave robber and trafficker of human remains, so the birds named after him are going to be renamed in the near future. Other names currently in use for this owl are the Milky Eagle Owl (Milky doesn't sound the best to me either) and the Giant Eagle Owl. I'd be ok with that last one. I'm going to call it the VEO for the rest of this post.

Along with many of the Eagle Owls, the VEO have be reclassified to the genus Ketupa, which is the Fish Owls, and our friend the Buffy Fish Owl is the example species of the genus.

Buffy Fish Owl

The VEO is the largest owl in Africa, and is found almost everywhere below the Sahara except in the very deepest regions of rainforest. Its preferred environment is dry savannah, so distribution is uneven. It would also be a large owl anywhere in the world, as it is 4th largest owl in both mass and length in the world. It is also the largest tropical owl. I'll post the whole wiki entry on size in the commentsb it's pretty interesting and I don't want to cut it short.

They have small ear tufts that are sometimes hard to see, but their unique defining feature are their pink eyelids, a feature not possessed by any other owl. They are thought to be used to attract a mate as they become bolder colors during mating season. They are broader and bulkier in appearance than other owls of their same parts of the world.

Its call is one if the loudest and deepest bird calls in the world, and is said to resemble the sound of a large frog or a leopard.

They may have one of the most diverse diets of any owl. Only about 6 studies have been done on their diet, but over 100 prey species have been confirmed, ranging in size from insects weighing less than 5 g (0.18 oz) to ungulates (hooved mammals) weighing at least 10 kg (22 lb)! One of their favorite foods though, is hedgehog. They don't have much competition when it comes to other animals that will try and eat one of those.

So, with that introduction, what are your thoughts on the VEO? It's got great stats and things that should make it a very cool and popular owl, it just seems to be not near as photogenic as many other owls.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

The size and weight of VEO is somewhat murky and controversial, so I'm just going to post the Wikipedia entry.

Verreaux's eagle-owl ranges from 58 to 66 cm (23 to 26 in) in total length.[3][23] This species has been reported as having an average wingspan of 140 cm (4 ft 7 in), but Mikkola referenced this as the wingspan of a smaller male.[3][24][12] The largest known wingspan from a wild female measured nearly 164 cm (5 ft 5 in).[25] While female owls are almost always larger than males, Verreaux's eagle-owl stands out as one of the most sexually dimorphic living owl species, some studies showing the female can average 35% heavier than the male. In comparison, the females of the nominate subspecies of Eurasian eagle-owls and great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) are reported to average approximately 20% and 25% heavier than the males, respectively.[15][26] The full range of reported body mass in the species ranges from 1,615 to 2,000 g (3.6 to 4.4 lb) in males against a body mass of 2,475–3,150 g (5.5–6.9 lb) in females.[4][27][28] In one study, 4 males were found to have averaged 1,704 g (3.8 lb) while 6 females averaged 2,625 g (5.8 lb).[4][15] Another study found 5 males to have averaged approximately 1,700 g (3.7 lb) while five females averaged 2,300 g (5.1 lb).[3][29] Unusually large sizes have been claimed in captivity with claims that specimens measuring up to 75 cm (30 in) in length and 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) in wingspan but these are unverified and possibly misreported as these figures match the largest Eurasian eagle-owls.[22] Males heavier than any in the wild have been verified in captivity to weigh up to 2,200 g (4.9 lb).[27] Among standard measurements, the female is reported to measure from 447 to 490 mm (17.6 to 19.3 in), averaging 465 mm (18.3 in), in wing chord, 230 to 273 mm (9.1 to 10.7 in) in the tail, while the same measurements in the male are from 420 to 490 mm (17 to 19 in), averaging 448 mm (17.6 in), and from 220 to 275 mm (8.7 to 10.8 in) in tail length. In both sexes, the tarsus has measured 73 to 86 mm (2.9 to 3.4 in) and the bill (in a small sample) 51 to 54 mm (2.0 to 2.1 in).[4][27] Based on wing chord size compared to body mass and other linear dimensions, the Verreaux's eagle-owl averages somewhat larger in the size of its wings relative to its body size than most other eagle-owls, excluding the Asian fish owls which are also relatively long-winged.