Brown Fish Owl vs Verreaux's Eagle-Owl

Brown Fish Owl

Ketupa zeylonensis

Large1.1 kgRiverine

The brown fish owl has prominent ear tufts and rufous brown upperparts that are heavily streaked with black or dark brown. Its underparts are buffy-fulvous to whitish, with wavy dark brown streaks and finer brown barring. Its throat is white and conspicuously puffed. Its facial disk is indistinct, the bill dark and the iris golden yellow. Its featherless feet are yellow. Two-year old brown fish owls are somewhat paler than adults. Female and male differ slightly in size. In body size, it ranges from 48 to 61 cm (19 to 24 in) with a wingspan from 125 to 140 cm (49 to 55 in).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Koshy Koshy from Faridabad, Haryana, India · CC BY 2.0

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl

Ketupa lactea

Small65 g

Despite the alternative common name of giant eagle-owl, Verreaux's eagle-owl is not the largest owl or eagle-owl in the world. It is, however, a very large and powerful owl species. This species is both the largest owl found in Africa and the world's largest owl to occur in the tropics. Among all the world's owls, it is the fourth heaviest living owl, after Blakiston's fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni), the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) and the tawny fish owl (Ketupa flavipes). Voice: The call of the Verreaux's eagle-owl is the deepest of any extant owl species and one of the deepest bird calls in the world, averaging slightly deeper than the calls of the Blakiston's and brown fish owls (Ketupu zeylonensis). The calls of Eurasian eagle-owls are less deep but are possibly louder and farther carrying.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Nicolas Huet / Jean Gabriel Prêtre · Public domain

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Brown Fish Owl and Verreaux's Eagle-Owl.