Vermiculated fishing-owl

Description

The vermiculated fishing owl (Scotopelia bouvieri) 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 the British zoologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1875 and named in honour of the French naturalist Eugène Louis Bouvier.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.The underwing and undertail coverts and the thighs are whitish and unstreaked.The legs and feet are yellow and unfeathered.