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World Owl Trust

Saturday May 10th, 2008


Pharaoh Eagle Owl
Bubo ascalaphus
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As of February 2005.
Description Large, pale eared owl with yellow or orange eyes. Generally a pale tawny above with black and white markings. Throat white, chest and belly pale tawny to sandy, streaked with black. Race desertorum generally paler.
Size 46-50cm, 1900-2300g
Range North West Africa, across most of the Sahara, Syria, Israel to W Iraq and E Arabian Peninsula.
Habitat Rocky deserts and semi-deserts, gorges, cliffs, rocky mountain slopes.
Food Mainly mammals and birds, also reptiles and scorpions.
Breeding 2-4 eggs, laid in February and March, in scrape amongst rocks or in a crevice. Incubation up to 36 days. Young leave nest by 7 weeks and are fully fledged by 10 weeks. They are independent by about 26 weeks.
Call A deep downward inflected “whu”.
Status Listed as not globally threatened, although until recently was included with B.bubo and little information is available on population levels. They are certainly persecuted in some areas as they are viewed as “evil spirits”, and killed on sight.
Comments The WORLD OWL TRUST is working with the Oman Natural History Museum, Sultanate of Oman; together with WORLD OWL TRUST Overseas Representative for the Middle East in the United Arab Emirates, to determine the exact taxonomy of Eagle Owls in the region.
Races Until recently included as a race of B.bubo with which it has been known to interbreed in parts of Syria and Palestine. However morphology, vocalisations, and DNA are distinct. Intermediates of the 2 races can be found in some areas.
B.a.ascalaphus N Africa from Morocco to Egypt, Sinai, Israel and Palestine
B.a.desertorum W Iraq, Arabia and S Sahara from Ethiopia and Sudan to Mali

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