Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri) | Photos and ID

LCLeast ConcernOmnivore

WetlandCavity nestLarge · 637 g

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 1 — Photo: Tom Field · CC BY 4.0

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 2 — Photo: Tom Field · CC BY 4.0

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 3 — Photo: Tom Field · CC BY 4.0

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 4 — Photo: Tom Field · CC BY 4.0

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 5 — Photo: Tom Field · CC BY 4.0

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 9 — Photo: (c) Tom Field, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Vermiculated Fishing Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri), photo 10 — Photo: (c) Tom Field, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

ID tip

The vermiculated fishing owl is a large, earless owl with a total length of 46 to 51 cm (18 to 20 in). The facial disc is a pale reddish-brown with an inconspicuous darker brown rim. The eyes are dark brown and the bill yellowish-brown with a darker tip. The crown is streaked with dark brown. The upper parts are cinnamon-brown finely marked with dark brown vermiculations. Across the shoulders, the outer webs of the feathers are whitish making a pale horizontal streak. The flight feathers and the tail feathers are barred. The underparts are whitish, heavily marked with dark streaks.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Vermiculated Fishing Owl

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 9 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Vermiculated Fishing Owl

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 8 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Zambia Gabon Cameroon Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Nigeria Central African Republic Equatorial Guinea

Recorded as a rare visitor in Benin.

About the Vermiculated Fishing Owl

The vermiculated fishing owl is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found within riverine forest in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria. This species was first described by British zoologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1875 and named in honour of French naturalist Eugène Louis Bouvier.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Rufous Fishing OwlScotopelia ussheriThe rufous fishing owl is a medium-sized owl, measuring 46 to 51 cm (18 to 20 in) in length.

Pel's Fishing OwlScotopelia peliPel's fishing owl is one of the largest owl species in the world.

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