Colours of Wildlife: Southern White-Faced Scops Owl
Created | Updated Nov 11, 2012
Southern White-Faced Scops Owl
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
What a long name for a pretty little owl! Here in South Africa we simply call it a Whitefaced Owl. The Southern White-faced Scops Owl, Ptilopsus granti, is a relative of the Scops Owl, though not a very close one. All the proper scops owls are in the genus Otus, while it shares its genus with just one other species, the Northern White-faced Scops Owl, Ptilopsus leucotis. The southern species occurs in dry savannah and woodland in Africa south of the equator, while the northern species occurs in the same habitat north of the equator. It is slightly paler than the southern one, and has a different call.
This owl is not frequently seen; I’ve seen it myself a few times, in the wild and also in captivity in bird rehabilitation centres. It’s perhaps the prettiest of all owls to be seen in South Africa. It is fairly small, 25-28 cm/10”-11” in length, and very fluffy, with big, soft, puffy feathers all over its body and head. It has hair-like bristles almost obscuring its bill, and, like the other scops owls, prominent ear tufts. Its face is very striking: its eyes are huge and orange-red; these are ringed by its white cheeks and eyebrows, these in turn being neatly bordered in black.
As I explain in the other articles on eared owls, the ear tufts have nothing to do with the owl’s actual ears or hearing, but has the function of breaking up its outline as it sleeps in the daytime. It will stretch itself out and press its feathers close to its body, suddenly appearing to have slimmed down to half its original girth; it will close its eyes, and even its boldly black-and-white face will suddenly not be very noticeable. With its overall grey colour it will blend in with the bark, looking at most like a broken branch. Unlike the scops owls, the white-faced owls don’t come in a reddish or brown version, only grey, and so will only sleep in trees with grey bark. Unlike the true scops owls they do not always press themselves close to the bark of the tree, and can be spotted a bit more easily.
When a predator comes too close, though, revealing that it had indeed spotted the owl, it will suddenly transform! It will now puff up it feathers, spread out its wings, and open its eyes wide. Now the ear tufts together with the huge eyes make it look like a wild cat! This sudden transformation is enough to startle most predators. It will hiss angrily at them as well. A female disturbed on her nest will give a snarling alarm call reminiscent of fighting tom cats! If the predator persists, the owl will defend itself mightily with its sharp beak and strong claws. These owls will occasionally attack humans trying to photograph them, sometimes drawing blood. But at other times it may seem to be in denial about the threat … relying on camouflage so much that it does nothing, refuses to move and can actually be caught by hand!
This little owl is actually a doughty predator. It mostly catches small rodents, but also insects and other invertebrates, and from time to time small birds. The largest prey items it’s been recorded as catching are laughing doves and squirrels. When there are bush fires they may take advantage of these to look for invertebrates and small mammals that are fleeing the flames.
When courting, the owls start by calling to each other. The display call is a soft, pleasant, bubbling hoot, quite different from the chirp of the Scops Owl. The male calls to the female, walking towards her along the branch, bobbing his head up and down. If she flies off, he will chase her, hopefully wearing her down until she gives in to his charms. Like many other owl species, this one will use the nests of other birds after they’ve been abandoned. It has been recorded using everything from unlined natural hollows formed by branches to the flimsy nests of Go-away Birds to the sturdy platform nests of birds-of-prey. The eggs are laid on top, and the mother incubates them, lying flat during the day so as to be inconspicuous. The male will assist her for short shifts during the night – one of the few cases of male owls helping the females being recorded. The two or three eggs hatch after thirty days. The chicks are almost fully feathered at three weeks, and at five weeks they can fly. The parents still escort them around for two weeks or more before they are fully independent.
This is a species not frequently seen, because of it being quiet and unobtrusive, but it has a very extensive distribution and is presently in no danger of extinction.
