African Grass-Owl ( Tyto capensis, family: tytonidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Grass Owl

african grass owl kruger national park birds The African Grass-Owl (Latin name Tyto capensis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 393 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 252 also a picture of the African Grass-Owl on page 272. The African Grass-Owl belongs to the family of birds classified as tytonidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the African Grass-Owl is also known by these other names: Cape Grass-Owl.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the African Grass-Owl was called the Grass Owl

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The African Grass-Owl is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the African Grass-Owl in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Grass-Owl has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The African Grass-Owl is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the African Grass-Owl is about 37 cms and its weight is about 420 gms

The male and female African Grass-Owl have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is olive.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is white.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Grass-Owl feeds on wing mainly

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Grass-Owl is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Tyto capensis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Grass-Owl is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Grass-Owl are: grasslands

You will normally see the African Grass-Owl by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isikhova

Zulu ... isiKhova/umShwelele

Afrikaans ...Grasuil

German ... Graseule

Portuguese ... Coruja-do-capim

French ... Effraie du Cap

Dutch ... Kaapse Grasuil

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 393

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za