CreatureData

Spotted eagle-owl

Bubo africanus (Temminck, 1821)

LCLeast Concernowls

The spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 645 g to 655.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus)
Photo: David Erickson, self, · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the spotted eagle-owl

Weight
645 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1 m – 1.13 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
rockysrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.8src for Young per litter or clutch
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 spotted eagle-owl?

SPOTTED EAGLE-OWL · WINGSPAN 1.13 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.13 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the spotted eagle-owl is about 66% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the spotted eagle-owl live?

Not recorded

What is the spotted eagle-owl?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus), also known as the African spotted eagle-owl and the African eagle-owl, is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the eagle owls. Its length is 45 cm (18 in) and its weight is from 454 to 907 grams (1.0 to 2.0 lb). It has a 100 to 140 cm (39 to 55 in) wingspan. The facial disk is off-white to pale ochre and the eyes are yellow. It has prominent ear-tufts, and the upper body is dusky brown, the lower parts off-white with brown bars. Prior to 1999 the spotted eagle-owl was considered conspecific with the greyish eagle-owl, but now it is classed as a separate species.

From the Wikipedia article “Spotted eagle-owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_eagle-owl&oldid=1360738638), 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 spotted eagle-owl endangered?

The spotted eagle-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 spotted eagle-owl classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusBubo
  7. SpeciesBubo africanus (Temminck, 1821)

Synonyms Asio maculosus amerimnus, Bubo africanus africanus, Bubo africanus maculosus, Bubo africanus tanae, Bubo ascalaphus trothae, Bubo maculosus, Strix africana, Strix maculosa

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • SPEOEnglish
  • Spotted eagle owlEnglish
  • Gevlekte OoruilAfrikaans
  • بُوهةٌ رَقْطاءُArabic
  • بوم النسر المنقطArabic
  • icipululuBemba
  • Африкански бухалBulgarian
  • duc africàCatalan
  • eryrdylluan fannogWelsh
  • Plettet HornugleDanish
  • Plettet stor hornugleDanish
  • FleckenuhuGerman
  • αφρικανικός μπούφοςGreek
  • Μπούφος της ΑφρικήςGreek
  • afrika gufoEsperanto
  • Búho africanoSpanish
  • Buhó ManchadoSpanish
  • savanni-kassikakkEstonian
  • täplähuuhkajaFinnish
  • Grand-duc africainFrench
  • Rí-ulchabhán ballachIrish
  • afrička ušaraCroatian
  • afrikai uhuHungarian
  • Gufo reale africanoItalian
  • Gufo reale macchiatoItalian
  • Gufo reale maculatoItalian
  • アフリカワシミミズクJapanese
  • afrikinis didysis apuokasLithuanian
  • punktainais ūpisLatvian
  • Afrikaanse OehoeDutch
  • flekkhubroNorwegian
  • kadzidziNyanja
  • puchacz plamistyPolish
  • bufo-malhadoPortuguese
  • bufo-africanoPortuguese
  • bufo-real-africanoPortuguese
  • Пятнистый филинRussian
  • Африканский филинRussian
  • výr africkýSlovak
  • Pegava buljinaSerbian
  • fläckuvSwedish
  • Benekli PuhuTurkish
  • пугач африканськийUkrainian
  • 斑雕鸮Chinese
  • 點斑鵰鴞Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the spotted eagle-owl

Other species in the same genus Bubo.

VU, Vulnerable
Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus)

Snowy owl

Bubo scandiacus

Strigidae

CompareSpotted eagle-owl vs Eurasian eagle-owlSpotted eagle-owl vs Snowy owlSpotted eagle-owl vs Great horned owlSpotted eagle-owl vs Indian eagle-owl

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the spotted eagle-owl?

An adult spotted eagle-owl weighs 645 g and has a wingspan of 1 m – 1.13 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the spotted eagle-owl endangered?

The spotted eagle-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 spotted eagle-owl?

The spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus) 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). Spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-eagle-owl

MLA

“Spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-eagle-owl.

BibTeX
@misc{spotted_eagle_owl_2026,
  title = {Spotted eagle-owl (Bubo africanus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-eagle-owl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}