Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Strigiformes > Strigidae > Asio > Asio capensis

Asio capensis (Marsh Owl)

Synonyms: Otus capensis (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

The marsh owl (Asio capensis) is a species of owl which is a mainly resident breeder in Africa and Madagascar. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae. Marsh owls nest on the ground on open marshy areas, laying 2-4 eggs amongst tussocks. It hunts over open country, often by day. Its food is mainly insects, but it will take small mammals, such as rodents, and birds. The call is a frog-like kaar or rasping whistle "shrss".
View Wikipedia Record: Asio capensis

Infraspecies

Asio capensis capensis
Asio capensis hova
Asio capensis tingitanus

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
4
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
24
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 9.39646
EDGE Score: 2.34147
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  340 grams
Birth Weight [1]  20 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates)
Diet - Ectothermic [2]  30 %
Diet - Endothermic [2]  40 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  30 %
Forages - Aerial [2]  20 %
Forages - Ground [2]  80 %
Clutch Size [4]  2
Clutches / Year [1]  1
Incubation [3]  28 days
Mating Display [5]  Non-acrobatic aerial display
Nocturnal [2]  Yes
Raptor Research Conservation Priority [6]  66
Snout to Vent Length [1]  13 inches (34 cm)
Wing Span [7]  35 inches (.9 m)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Echidnophaga gallinacea (sticktight flea)[11]

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 3Kemp, AC. 1989. Estimation of Biological Indices for Little-known African Owls Meyburg, B.-U & R. D. Chancellor eds. 1989 Raptors in the Modern World WWGBP: Berlin, London & Paris
♦ 4Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 5Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 6Buechley ER, Santangeli A, Girardello M, et al. Global raptor research and conservation priorities: Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps. Divers Distrib. 2019;25:856–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12901
♦ 7del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 8The Serengeti food web: empirical quantification and analysis of topological changes under increasing human impact, Sara N. de Visser, Bernd P. Freymann and Han Olff, Journal of Animal Ecology 2011, 80, 484–494
♦ 9Otomys angoniensis, G. N. Bronner and J. A. J. Meester, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 306, pp. 1-6 (1988)
♦ 10Otomys irroratus, G. Bronner, S. Gordon, and J. Meester, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 308, pp. 1-6 (1988)
♦ 11International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0