White-browed Owl Athene superciliaris Scientific name definitions

23–30 cm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); male 235 g (n = 1), female 236 g (n = 1) (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ). Medium-sized owl with round brownish head, inconspicuous tan-grey facial disc, prominent white eyebrows and white speckles on crown; upperparts uniform brown with a few white speckles, mostly on wing coverts ; underparts white with uniform brown bars throughout ; irides dark brown (unique for Athene, and highly unusual for Ninox (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) ); cere pale yellowish-brown (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); bill yellowish-green (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ); toes yellowish. Juvenile much like adult, but bars on underparts slightly narrower; tail feathers barred brownish-white with narrow whitish tips; primaries with whitish notches on distal outer edge and whitish fringe at tip (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ).

Formerly placed in genus Ninox, and sometimes thought to be close to Ninox scutulata. Recent genetic data, however, indicate that this species is an Athene (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), although corroborative evidence from further sampling is desirable; many works continue to place present species in Ninox (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 3 Mikkola, H. (2014). Owls of the World. A Photographic Guide. 2nd edition. Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY, USA. Close ), and one even suggests it belongs in its own genus (4 Hawkins, F., R. Safford, and A. Skerrett (2015). Birds of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands. Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues. Christopher Helm, London. Close ). Monotypic.

Madagascar (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ).

Uses a variety of forested habitats, including open terrain with few trees, wooded savanna, semi-arid thorn scrub, deciduous dry forest, evergreen rainforest and rocky ravines; also found in villages (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ). Occurs from sea-level to 800 m in elevation (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Resident (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Rare wanderers to N Madagascar are probably dispersing immatures.

No detailed published studies (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ). Mainly insects; also amphibians (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ), reptiles (including chameleons), small birds and small mammals (“mice, bats” (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ) ). Strictly nocturnal. Hunts by surveying area overlooking open space from perch, and dropping to catch prey; probably relies on sight for hunting.

Extremely vocal at night, giving 2 muffled disyllabic hoots, “ho-o-o, hoo  ”, sometimes followed by series of barking notes, “kiang-kiang-kiang...  ” (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ), that rise in pitch and volume.

Breeding biology rather poorly known; said to breed from Oct–Dec (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ). Two nests known in tree cavities, one in forest interior and the other at forest edge (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ); reports of nests on the ground are unconfirmed. Clutch size thought to be 3–5 eggs; egg size 34·3–37·7 mm × 27·4–30·7 mm (2 Safford, R.J. and Hawkins, A.F.A. eds. (2013). The Birds of Africa. Vol. 8: The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. No estimates of global population size. Fairly common in dry forest in W & S Madagascar, e.g. at Kirindi, Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park and Berenty Private Reserve; less common in Ankarana in N. Depends mainly on forest lands; may be at risk, with declining numbers, because much natural habitat has been destroyed by logging. However, inhabits degraded habitats and even occurs in villages; numbers appear to be moderately high W of central plateau and Bara region. Few reports from E side of island, but recently recorded on nest in Andranobe, Masoala Peninsula National Park, in NE.