CreatureData

Marsh owl

Asio capensis (A. Smith, 1834)

LCLeast Concernowls

The marsh owl (Asio capensis) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 328.3 g to 340 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Marsh owl (Asio capensis)
Photo: Josefito123 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the marsh owl

Weight
328.3 g – 340 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
82 cm – 99 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.4 – 2.75src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the marsh owl?

MARSH OWL · WINGSPAN 99 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 99 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the marsh owl is about 58% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the marsh owl live?

Not recorded

What is the marsh owl?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The marsh owl (Asio capensis) is a medium to large species of owl in the family Strigidae.

From the Wikipedia article “Marsh owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marsh_owl&oldid=1380715731), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the marsh owl endangered?

The marsh owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the marsh owl classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusAsio
  7. SpeciesAsio capensis (A. Smith, 1834)

Synonyms Asio helvola, Otus capensis, Strix helvola

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • VleiuilAfrikaans
  • Vlei-uilAfrikaans
  • بومة المستنقعاتArabic
  • Капска соваBulgarian
  • Toud ar C'hapBreton
  • mussol gregariCatalan
  • kalous africkýCzech
  • tylluan y gorsWelsh
  • KapugleDanish
  • Kap-ugleDanish
  • KapohreuleGerman
  • Kap-OhreuleGerman
  • afrika orelstrigoEsperanto
  • Búho moroSpanish
  • aafrika soorätsEstonian
  • afrikansuopöllöFinnish
  • Hibou du CapFrench
  • Hibou des Marais AfricainFrench
  • Ulchabhán seabhaicIrish
  • ינשוף אפריקניHebrew
  • afrička sova močvaricaCroatian
  • mocsári fülesbagolyHungarian
  • SerkuglaIcelandic
  • Gufo del CapoItalian
  • Gufo di palude africanoItalian
  • アフリカコミミズクJapanese
  • pelkinė pelėdaLithuanian
  • Kāpzemes pūceLatvian
  • VorondoloMalagasy
  • Afrikaanse VelduilDutch
  • gressugleNorwegian
  • uszatka mauretańskaPolish
  • coruja-mouraPortuguese
  • coruja-dos-pântanosPortuguese
  • Саванная соваRussian
  • африканская ушастая соваRussian
  • KáhpaloađguNorthern Sami
  • myšiarka jednofarebnáSlovak
  • afriška uharicaSlovenian
  • Afrička ritska sovaSerbian
  • kapugglaSwedish
  • Bataklık BaykuşuTurkish
  • сова африканськаUkrainian
  • Болотяна вухата соваUkrainian
  • Вухата сова болотянаUkrainian
  • 沼泽耳鸮Chinese
  • 沼澤耳鴞Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the marsh owl

Other species in the same genus Asio.

CompareMarsh owl vs Long-eared owlMarsh owl vs Short-eared owlMarsh owl vs Stygian owlMarsh owl vs Abyssinian owl

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the marsh owl?

An adult marsh owl weighs 328.3 g – 340 g and has a wingspan of 82 cm – 99 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the marsh owl endangered?

The marsh owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the marsh owl?

The marsh owl (Asio capensis) belongs to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Marsh owl (Asio capensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/marsh-owl

MLA

“Marsh owl (Asio capensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/marsh-owl.

BibTeX
@misc{marsh_owl_2026,
  title = {Marsh owl (Asio capensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/marsh-owl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}