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the male supplies the food. The females starts incubating as soon as the first eggs is laid and continues for 32β42 days. The female feeds the young taking food brought by the male for the first 10 days; after which, both parents feed the chicks. When the chicks are about four weeks old, the female starts to roost away from the nest. After attaining five weeks of age the owlets begin to wander around the nest, before attempting their first flights at around seven weeks. Once fledged, the young stay with the parents for about 3 weeks, and are independent after that. Prey which are fed to the young are often first decapitated.
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domed platform created at the end of a tunnel serves as either the nest or daytime roost site. Pairs of owls frequently roost together and occasionally small groups of owls may roost quite close to each other. It becomes active after sunset and hunts during the night, only if prey is scarce, will they fly during the early morning or late afternoon. Studies done in the
Eastern Cape reveal that, in comparison with the
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extend to the lower third of the tarsi. The lower leg and feet are slightly bristled and coloured pale yellowish-grey. The body length is 38β42 cm (15β17 in), the wing length 283β345 mm (11.1β13.6 in) and they weigh between 355 and 520 g (12.5 and 18.3 oz). A high degree of
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The preferred prey of the
African grass owl are rodents and other small mammals normally weighing less than 100 g (3.5 oz) and taken from the ground. It normally hunts in an erratic flight close to the ground, listening and watching for prey, but will also "sit and wait" hunt from a perch.
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To combat their state of vulnerability in South Africa, programmes of captive breeding and release for the
African grass owl were tested and studies revealed that this may be a possible effective conservation strategy. However, reintroduction of the African grass owl is not a simple process because
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The
African grass owl breeds from December to August, but the main breeding season is from February to April. The nest is a shallow hollow lined with grass positioned at the end of a grass tunnel. The two to four white eggs are laid at two-day intervals and are incubated solely by the female while
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The
African grass owl is nocturnal and is rarely seen flying during the day. It roosts during the day on the ground in tall, rank grass where it creates domed platforms and tunnels by trampling down the surrounding grass. These tunnels can be several metres long and connect with other tunnels. The
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are pale brownish-grey with dark bars and yellow bases. The short tail has uniform brown central feathers fading to paler, almost white, outer feathers which show about four dark bars. The underparts vary in colour from whitish to buff marked with dark spots. The legs have whitish feathers which
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The habitats in which this species breeds and feeds are often alongside areas of human activity, such as industrial, agricultural or mining areas. This causes exposure to various environmental contaminants, for example, metals, which can subsequently be monitored using the birds' feathers. The
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The
African grass owl is evaluated as Least Concern. However, in South Africa the species is regarded as vulnerable because habitat degradation through ploughing, grazing, draining and burning; the population in the country is considered to be fewer than 5,000 individuals.
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and has a heart shaped whitish-cream facial disc, with a narrow yellowish-buff rim which is densely spotted dark. The eyes are brownish-black, and the bill is whitish to pale pink. The entire upperparts from the crown to the lower back and
734:
Ansara-Ross, T. M.; Ross, M. J.; Wepener, V. (August 2013). "The use of feathers in monitoring bioaccumulation of metals and metalloids in the South
African endangered African grass-owl (Tyto capensis)".
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The
African grass owl is found in moist grassland and open savanna up to an elevation of 3,200 m (10,500 ft). In east Africa it may also be found in dry grassland and at higher altitudes in
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and termites. The
African grass owl in Cameroon significantly hunts Soricomorpha with 70% as its main diet, while the African grass owl in different regions hunts rodentia with 90% in average.
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is present, whereby the body mass and length is significantly larger in females than in males. This is a consequence of observable differences in hunting techniques and efficiency of brooding.
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When the owl locates prey it dives to the ground and picks it up with its talons, feeding on the ground or taking the prey on a nearby perch. In southern Africa recorded prey items include
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Ansara-Ross, Tahla M; Wepener, Victor; Verdoorn, Gerhard H; Ross, Mathew J (April 2008). "Sexual dimorphism of four owl species in South Africa".
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Brown, Mark; Perrin, Mike; Hoffman, Ben (March 2007). "Reintroduction of captive-bred
African Grass-Owls Tyto capensis into natural habitat".
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780:"Diet of sympatric African grass owl ( Tyto capensis ) and spotted eagle owl ( Bubo africanus ) in the Bamenda Highlands, NW Cameroon"
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It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa where there are two blocks of its main range, one in central southern Africa across southern
228:
Grass owl chick rescued from a veld fire and rehabilitated onto Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in the Gauteng province of South Africa
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Baxter, RM; Matshili, AJ (September 2003). "An analysis of Barn and Grass Owl pellets from Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa".
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292:, but it is less strident. A high-pitched sibilant tremolo lasting one to two seconds is thought to be the song of the male.
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scrub close to water. The specific habitat requirements of the African grass owl characterize it as a habitat specialist.
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supplementary feeding is required and the habitat must be suitable and contain sufficient prey.
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where there are patches of tall, rank grass and other vegetation but it may also be found in
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are a uniform sooty blackish-brown, with scattered small white spots and greyish flecks. The
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of Asia and Australia. There are two subspecies of African grass owl currently recognised:
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The African grass owl species is regarded by some authors as the same species as the
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African grass owls have been recorded as being preyed on by the
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They have a screeching call which is similar to that of the
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Riegert, Jan; SedlΓ‘Δek, OndΕej; Hutterer, Rainer (2008).
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and Mozambique. There are isolated populations in the
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Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
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Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
518:African grass owl is a good bioindicator species.
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708:. Iziko: Museums of South Africa. Archived from
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316:north to the southern extremities of
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258:The African grass owl resembles the
1339:IUCN Red List least concern species
702:"Tyto capensis (African grass-owl)"
555:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
948:Handbook of the Birds of the World
25:
797:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00816.x
671:10.2989/OSTRICH.2008.79.1.11.366
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916:10.2989/ostrich.2007.78.1.11.55
544:BirdLife International (2016).
451:. Non mammalian prey included
1:
877:"Tyto capensis cameroonensis"
496:Tyto capensis cameroonensis
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1354:Owls of Sub-Saharan Africa
784:African Journal of Ecology
825:10.2989/00306520309485400
749:10.1007/s10646-013-1095-4
434:Southern African hedgehog
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98:Scientific classification
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562:: e.T22688514A93199287.
308:to the central coast of
246:in the barn owl family,
1359:Birds described in 1834
504::the rest of the range.
480:Taxonomy and subspecies
940:(African) Grass Owl -
502:Tyto capensis capensis
229:
706:Biodiversity Explorer
628:"African Grass Owl ~
498:: Cameroon Highlands.
471:African marsh harrier
460:Gallinago nigripennis
227:
591:"Appendices | CITES"
425:, multimammate mice
402:Chlorotalpa duthiae
399:Duthie's golden mole
847:"African Grass owl
509:Conservation status
51:Conservation status
712:on 28 January 2018
437:Atelerix frontalis
416:Georychus capensis
273:secondary feathers
242:) is a species of
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35:African grass owl
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1311:Open Tree of Life
1205:Open Tree of Life
966:Taxon identifiers
851:(Smith, A, 1834)"
489:Tyto longimembris
486:eastern grass owl
406:African marsh rat
278:sexual dimorphism
234:African grass owl
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18:African grass-owl
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198:Binomial name
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952:Grass Owl -
910:(1): 75β79.
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885:. Retrieved
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859:. Retrieved
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714:. Retrieved
710:the original
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665:(1): 83β86.
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314:Western Cape
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296:Distribution
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265:wing-coverts
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155:Strigiformes
29:
1127:iNaturalist
998:Wikispecies
575:11 November
354:Mount Kenya
328:Highlands,
254:Description
84:Appendix II
1333:Categories
1231:Xeno-canto
887:23 October
861:23 October
716:23 October
642:23 October
600:2022-01-14
526:References
310:Mozambique
1263:Q41021549
924:0030-6525
881:HBW Alive
833:0030-6525
757:0963-9292
679:0030-6525
595:cites.org
391:Tyto alba
350:Aberdares
326:Ethiopian
248:Tytonidae
183:Species:
165:Tytonidae
121:Kingdom:
115:Eukaryota
1257:Wikidata
1218:Species+
1171:22688514
1145:10217800
1106:45514014
1044:22688514
1039:BirdLife
983:Wikidata
765:23793347
428:Mastomys
387:Barn owl
338:Cameroon
322:Botswana
318:Zimbabwe
290:Barn Owl
260:barn owl
161:Family:
135:Chordata
131:Phylum:
125:Animalia
111:Domain:
71:IUCN 3.1
1316:7663243
1303:1063284
1290:7442530
1119:5232363
1093:afgowl1
1067:afgowl1
1026:Avibase
989:Q385076
904:Ostrich
855:Avibase
813:Ostrich
659:Ostrich
380:Biology
358:marshes
352:and on
344:Habitat
217:, 1834)
171:Genus:
151:Order:
141:Class:
86: (
69: (
1210:794579
1184:212794
1158:555359
1057:114353
922:
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421:Otomys
374:acacia
366:fynbos
334:Uganda
306:Angola
1277:532GM
1197:72123
1140:IRMNG
1132:20438
1088:eBird
1080:59ZVS
1064:BOW:
453:frogs
445:hares
362:vleis
330:Kenya
302:Congo
284:Voice
215:Smith
88:CITES
82:CITES
1344:Tyto
1298:ITIS
1285:GBIF
1223:6179
1179:NCBI
1166:IUCN
1153:ITIS
1114:GBIF
1052:BOLD
920:ISSN
889:2016
863:2016
829:ISSN
761:PMID
753:ISSN
718:2016
675:ISSN
644:2016
577:2021
560:2016
449:bats
447:and
372:and
360:and
336:and
332:and
271:and
232:The
176:Tyto
145:Aves
1272:CoL
1101:EoL
1075:CoL
1013:ADW
912:doi
821:doi
792:doi
745:doi
667:doi
564:doi
430:spp
423:spp
244:owl
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