SPECIES PROFILE

Name: the barred eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus) – also called the Malay eagle-owl – is a small eagle owl that is similar in appearance to the spot-bellied eagle owl.

Appearance: barred eagle owls are easily recognised by their striped chests, horizontal ear tufts, and distinctive (almost human-like!) facial expressions. They look similar to the spot-bellied eagle owl although they are significantly smaller.

Size: they are fairly small compared to most other eagle owls, reaching around 40 to 48 cm in size.

Diet: barred eagle owls have a wide-ranging diet including insects, birds, rodents, and snakes. Like other eagle-owls, they have powerful talons which allow them to catch large prey. They have even been observed taking young macaques which can be the same size or even larger than themselves!

Did you know: relatively little is known about this mysterious and elusive species. They can be difficult to spot in the wild although can be recognised by their weird and wonderful calls. Barred eagle owls have a distinctive, deep hoot which drops in pitch towards the end of the call. They also make a range of noisy cackles, loud shrieks, and strange guttural grunts. In the myths and legends of Java, their calls are thought to be those of demons.

Location: barred eagle owls are found in the tropical and sub-tropical forests of South East Asia including Borneo, Brunei, Cocos Islands, Indonesia, Java, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand.

Where TO SEE barred eagle owls

According to reports submitted to WildSide, you can see barred eagle owls in the following places:

Photo credit: Christopher Newsom under a Creative Commons license from Flickr