I have made the order and now waiting for the CITES and all the necessary document. Hopefully everthing is fine and I can get a good quality bird soonest…

Here is some information about african hawk eagle in wiki.

The African Hawk Eagle (Aquila spilogastra) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.

The African Hawk Eagle breeds in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a bird of wooded hills, building a stick nest about 3 feet (almost 1 meter) in diameter in the fork of a large tree. The clutch is generally one or two eggs.

This is a small to medium-sized eagle at about 55–65 cm in length. The upper parts are blackish. Its underparts are white heavily streaked with black. The underwing flight feathers are white with a black trailing edge. The underwing coverts are mostly black with white spots.

Sexes are similar, but young birds are brown above and rufous coloration replaces the black underparts of the adult.

The African Hawk Eagle hunts small mammals, reptiles, and birds up to the size of a francolin. The call is a shrill kluu-kluu-kluu.

Once I got my African Hawk Eagle… the fun will start again… I will try to post the update about the training and hunting…

Here is some photo of the eagle…

This young barn owl is one in a million after being born with a rare genetic condition that has made her feathers jet black.

Sable, who is two years old, suffers from melanism, a 100,000-to-one gene mutation that makes her the exact opposite to an albino.

Dark-hued owls are normally killed at birth by their confused mothers but Sable was born in captivity and so she survived, meaning she is one of only three in existence in Britain.

However, her unusual colouring means she would die if released into the wild. Baroness Sasa Vonbarth und Kippenruer, who runs the Hereford Owl Rescue, described Sable as “peculiar” but “very beautiful”.

She said: “Sable is very peculiar or I suppose you could say a freak of nature because melanistic owls are usually killed at birth or chucked out of the nest by their mothers.

“The parents think that because a chick is not white they shouldn’t feed it. However, she is captive bred as were her parents so she survived.

“Strangely Sable is much stronger than a normal barn owl whereas an albino is much weaker and has a very bad immune system.

“However, if she got out into the wild she’d be dead within 12 hours. You would think black would work at night but in reality she would be mobbed and killed by other owls.”

Unlike albinos, the two-year-old, who is 10in tall and has a wingspan of 30in, is stronger than the average barn owl because of her genetic condition.

She is currently being looked after by the Hereford Owl Sanctuary, a charitable organisation that rescues injured owls before reintroducing them into the wild.

Barn owls had been in decline in Britain but are making a comeback with 8,000 breeding pairs in the wild.

(source of the news is http://www.telegraph.co.uk )

****************

PJ housewife taking care of injured barn owl in her home in SS1
Photo sent in by Jegathesan
Metro, 29 Sept 2007

MRS P.S. Nathan had a surprise recently when an injured owl flew into her compound in SS1, Petaling Jaya and dropped to the ground.

The young owl, whose wings were bruised, was alert, but it was too weak to fly.

Mrs Nathan is now keeping the owl in her kitchen and feeding it with bananas and apples.

“This is the first time I have ever seen an owl in my neighborhood,” she said.

Barn owls are usually found in paddy growing areas and palm oil plantations and they usually feed on rats and snakes, said bird expert K.S. Durai, who lives in Fraser’s Hill.

Sightings of barn owls in urban areas are rare and it is a protected species, he said.

Mrs Nathan hopes the Wildlife Department would able to provide veterinary treatment for the owl so that it can be nursed back to health

Here is the photo of them:

This is a buffy fish owl

A barn owl

This malay fish owl is not in the avairy but at the photography section. Visitor can take photo with him with some payment.

Owls is divided into four subfamily, namely subfamily tytoninae, subfamily phodilinae, subfamily buboninae and subfamily striginae.

 

Subfamily Tytoninae

Subfamily tytoninae is the easiest to recognise subfamily of owls. They are the famous barn owl, which have round, heart-alike face. This family will have white face and they are consist of twelve (note that some expert may have different opinion about the species) species of barn owls. This owl subfamily is also the reputed as the most widespread land bird in the world! They are everywhere except Antarctica.

 

Subfamily Phodilinae

This owl subfamily is actually very rare. They like a little like barn owls, but on the top part it looking almost as if it were ears. There are two species of subfamily phodilinae, but it is rare and difficult to see. The rarest maybe the African Bay Owls (Phodilus progoginei), where had only been seen as dead specimen in year 1951, but later rediscovered in Zaire in may 1996.

 

Subfamily Buboninae

Subfamily buboninae is the most common owl subfamily. It also known as the ‘typical owls’. This subfamily of owls is actually a huge mixture of owls, which include the sixteen genera. This subfamily include scops owls (Otus species), Eagle Owls (Bubo species), Fishing owls (Ketupa species) and also Pygmy Owls (Galucidium species). One of the distinctive of this subfamily is that most of the species have yellow eyes.  This family actually covers the largest groups of owls and they are found just about everywhere.

 

Subfamily Striginae

Subfamily striginae is mostly consist of medium to small owls. Some of the species which include in this family is Great Grey (Strix nebulosa) and also Asio species like Long-eared owl (Asio Otus) and short-eared Owl (Asio Flammeus). The last of this subfamily group is four species of tiny forest owls namely Tengmalms Owl (Aegolius Funereus), Boreal Owl, Saw-whet Owls and the Buff-fronted Owl. Some of the species from subfamily striginae are diurnal owl (active during daytime).

The three subfamily above is one of the classification that some will use to classified owls. However, there are some other method that sometimes use i.e. ear’s owls and non ear’s owls.

I think it is a good article worth sharing with you all.

 

—-
Nesting sites are being identified as part of trying to reverse declining numbers.
By TOM VENESKY tvenesky@leader.net
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY – Kevin Wenner crept around the base of the towering silo and slowly opened the bottom door. He knew the slightest noise would send the silo’s inhabitant fleeing out the top.

The old steel door opened a few inches without a sound, until a rusty hinge made a slight squeak.

That was all it took.

The adult barn owl sprung from a hole on the top of the silo, spreading its 3-foot wingspan to gain altitude. Seeming more perturbed than alarmed at the human intruders who awoke it from an afternoon nap, the large owl hovered around the silo several times, its ghostly white plumage contrasting against the blue sky.

Wenner, who is a wildlife diversity biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northeast region, has spent the past year searching dark corners of old barns and climbing inside abandoned silos looking for barn owls. Wenner is identifying nesting sites in the region, hoping to rejuvenate a declining barn owl population as part of the commission’s Barn Owl Conservation Initiative.

Along the way, he has received quite a bit of cooperation from landowners who appreciate the benefits of having barn owls around. Those benefits could be found at the base of the abandoned silo in rural Turbotville, which was littered with pellets containing clues about the barn owl’s hunting prowess and large appetite.

“During the two-month breeding season, it’s estimated that a family of barn owls feeding seven to eight young goes through 3,000 rodents,” Wenner said as he broke open a pellet to reveal several small bones and a mouse’s fragile skull. Mixed in with pellets was a pigeon wing, another abundant food source around an old farm.

“The farmer that owns this silo is happy to have the owls here, so he’s going to keep the old silo up rather than tear it down.”

In June, the old silo was home to a barn owl nest that successfully reared six young. The nest was one of nine in the northeast region. Wenner suspects there are more.

“With all the old barns we have in this region, I imagine there’s a lot more nest sites out there. The owls go unnoticed or farmers who have them simply don’t know we’re looking for them.

“You look at the components at this site – abandoned silo, old barns, I can find similar places anywhere in the region.”

Barn owls were numerous until the late 1980s, Wenner said. The owl, which has a flat, monkeylike face, small eyes and hisses instead of hoots, nests in old barns, silos and tree cavities located near open, grassy areas.

Wenner attributes the owl’s decline to a number of factors: old barns being torn down, grasslands reverting to woods or, worse yet, he said, farmland being gobbled up by urban sprawl.

About a mile away from the old silo, another barn owl inhabits a silo on John Pfleegor’s farm.

Pfleegor still uses the silo, and each morning when he turns on the unloader, the owl flies out and perches on a nearby building. When Pfleegor is finished, the owl returns to the silo.

It’s a routine that Pfleegor appreciates, considering the rodents that like to sneak into his livestock’s feed troughs.

“Nobody knew we had them around here until Kevin pointed it out. You hardly hear them, except for a screaming sound they make at night,” Pfleegor said. “The owl has made a difference in the mice and rats around the barns, and I hope it stays and gets all it can.”

The Turbotville area has at least a third barn owl nest site, according to Wenner. That one is located in a feed mill less than two miles from Pfleegor’s farm.

While Wenner monitors the existing nest sites and continues searching for new ones, he is encouraging landowners to get involved. He routinely distributes barn owl nest boxes to those who own property containing suitable habitat, and he makes numerous site visits to follow up on any suspected sightings.

He hasn’t found any nests in Luzerne County yet, but Wenner has a hunch that will change in the near future.

“There are places in Luzerne County that are perfect for barn owls – old barns surrounded by pasture or hayfields. I suspect there’s more out there than we know of.”

 

 

As usual, as Scops Owl – Otus scops is not very common, there are only few information avaiable about this owl. Here is one of the good information that I get from wikipidia:

European Scops Owl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
?European Scops Owl
Conservation status: Least concern

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Aves
Order:     Strigiformes
Family:     Strigidae
Genus:     Otus
Species:     O. scops
Binomial name
Otus scops
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The European Scops Owl (Otus scops), also known as the Eurasian Scops Owl or just Scops Owl, is a small owl. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.

This bird breeds in southern Europe eastwards into western and central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southernmost Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. It is rare any distance north of its breeding range, usually occurring as a spring overshoot. It is unlikely that this nocturnal owl would be found outside the breeding season when it is not calling.

It breeds in open woodland, parks and gardens. It lays 3-6 eggs in a tree hole. This is a small owl, and at 19-21 cm length and a 47-54 cm wingspan is not as large as the Little Owl. It takes small prey such as insects and other invertebrates. It is largely nocturnal.

The Scops Owl perches upright and shows small ear tufts. It is predominantly grey-brown in colour, with paler face, underparts and shoulder line. This species has a strong direct flight on long narrow wings, reflecting its migratory habits.

The call is a deep whistle given by both sexes. It is similar to the call of the Midwife Toad.

*******

Here is also a good information about Scops Owl – Otus scops. I get the information from the hawk conservation trust (http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/priors/scops.shtml)

Common Scops Owl – Otus scops

Range

The Common Scops Owl is essentially a bird of north-western Africa and southern Europe.
There have been occasional visitors to southern England, but no substantiated reports for some considerable time.

Diet

The Common Scops Owl is basically insectivorous.
It does, however, at times take small mammals – mice, voles etc., and small birds. It is also claimed to take occasional small lizards.

Voice

The call of the Common Scops Owl is described as the plaintive note of a flute. It is a very common sound in the still nights of southern Europe.
The bird can be an ornithologists nightmare, as its call is practically indistinguishable from that of the Midwife Toad!

Status and behaviour in the wild

The Common Scops Owl is, in common with others of its type, a resident of lightly wooded areas.
Its preference is for areas which will give a July temperature of not less than 22 degrees Celcius (72 degrees Fahrenheit). In these areas it is often to be seen at night in the vicinity of light (lamp-posts etc) chasing its favoured food of large moths.
In these areas, its repeated single note call (which is reputed to out-noise the Cicada!) is a feature of the night air.
Over much of its range, the Common Scops Owl is migratory. Its migration paths take it over Malta and Italy, where there is an annual, almost ritual slaughter of many birds of prey.
The little Common Scops Owl is one of the species targetted at this time and, at times, it acquires in southern Europe the status of a game bird.

The owl will use the ‘home’ that is prepared for them to sleep in the daytime and they also breed in the ‘owl home’.

I believed that they are very effeve in rat controlling because in the paddy field area, I think 99% of their diet is rat. since it didn’t disturb anyone, or any lifestock (chicken and duckling) people will not bother with them and let the bird do their job easily.

Here is some information that I get from the internet about the  Barn Owl – Tyto alba:

Description: The Upperparts are light grey with numerous fine dark lines and scattered pale spots on the feathers. There are buff markings on wings and on the back. The underparts are white with a few black spots, occasionally none. Feathering on the lower legs may be sparse. The heart-shaped facial disc is white with a brownish edge, with brown marks at the front of the eyes, which have a black iris. Its beak is off-white and the feet are yellowish-white to brownish. Males and females are similar in size and colour, females and juveniles are generally more densely spotted.

Size: Female: Length 34-40cm (13.5-15.5″) Wingspan 110cm (43″) Weight 570g (20oz)
Male:  Length 32-38cm (12.5-15″) Wingspan 107cm (42″) Weight 470g (15.5oz)

Habits: Generally nocturnal, although it is not uncommon to see this species emerge at dusk or be active at dawn, occasionally being seen in flight during full daylight. Flight is noiseless, with wingbeats interrupted by gliding.

Voice: The Barn Owl calls infrequently, the usual call being a drawn-out rasping screech. The courtship call of male at nest is a shrill repetitive twittering. Adults returning to a nest may give a low, frog-like croak. When surprised in its roosting hollow or nest, it makes hissing and rasping noises and snapping sounds that are often called bill snapping, but possibly made by clicking the tongue.

Hunting & Food: Barn Owls specialise in hunting small ground mammals, and the vast majority of their food consists of small rodents. Voles (field mice) are an important food item, as well as pocket gophers, shrews, mice and rats. Barn Owls breed rapidly in response to mouse plagues. Other prey may include baby rabbits, bats, frogs, lizards, birds and insects. Prey are usually located by quartering up and down likely looking land – particularly open grassland. They also use low perches such as fence posts to seek quarry.

Breeding: Barn Owls will breed any time during the year, depending on food supply. In a good year, a pair may breed twice. Rodent plagues cause Barn Owl numbers to increase dramatically. During courting, males may circle near the nest tree, giving short screeches and chattering calls. The majority of Barn Owls nest in tree hollows up to 20 metres high. They will also nest in old buildings, caves and well shafts. 3 to 6 eggs are laid (occasionally up to 12) at 2 day intervals. The eggs are 38 to 46mm (1.5-1.8″) long and 30 to 35mm (1.2-1.4″) wide and will be incubated for 30 to 34 days. Chicks are covered in white down and brooded for about 2 weeks, and are fledged in 50 to 55 days. After this, they will remain in the vicinity for a week or so to learn hunting skills and then rapidly disperse from the nest area. Young birds are able to breed at about 10 months.

Mortality: Barn Owls are short-lived birds. Most die in their first year of life, with the average life expectancy being 1 to 2 years in the wild. In North America the oldest known Barn Owl in the wild lived to be 11 years, 6 months. In Holland, a wild barn owl lived to be 17 years, 10 months old.
In England, a captive female barn owl was retired from breeding at 25 years old!

Habitat: The Barn Owl is found in virtually all habitats but much more abundantly in open woodland, heaths and moors than forested country. They usually roost by day in tree hollows but have also been found in caves, wells, out-buildings or thick foliage.

Distribution: The Barn Owl is one of the most wide-spread of all land birds. They are found on all continents (except Antarctica) and large islands and occur over the whole of Australia, including Tasmania. They occur throughout most of Britain and Europe and across many parts of Asia, Africa, and in much of North America. In South America they are found in areas of suitable grassland, as well as on oceanic islands such as the Galapagos.

source:http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Tyto&species=alba

Barn Owl – Tyto alba

In this site I found a very interesting information about Barn Owl – Tyto alba. It is not only tell us about the species, but it also share about the method to build the barn owl nest box. (source:http://www.rain.org/~sals/barnowl.html)…

he Barn Owl has nearly world-wide distribution,being absent from only the high Latitudes. It has been introduced into some Pacific islands for rat control and is provided nest boxes in Malaysian palm nut groves for the same purpose. While the barn owl is found all over the US, its numbers are particularly high in California and the Southwest. Farmers and ranchers are increasingly attracted to the barn owl’s ability to control rodents better than traps,poison,or cats and at no cost.

Barn owls in favorable habitats produce large broods once or twice a year. Each young owl as it nears maturity will eat the equivalent of a dozen mice per night if such prey is available. Adult barn owls kill and consume the equivalent of one large rat or gopher per night. The Owl Rehabilitation Research Foundation,Ontario,Canada, reports that barn owls consume twice as much food for their weight as other owls.

The number of barn owls in an area is limited by both prey base and suitable nesting sites. In the West,barn owls not only nest in natural trees cavities and buildings, they also nest in cavities in cliffs and cut banks,stacked hay bales,and in palm trees. Use of these sites often leads to nesting failure such as when bales are shifted or the young outgrows the nest at the base of palm fronds.

This brochure offers several nest box designs that can be made from off the shelf materials. In addition, nest box designs that can be made from off the shelf materials. In addition, nest box designs for boxes made from plywood and lumber can be found in a companion brochure, Using Barn Owls for Rodent Control (209-369-8578) and in several other publications: Woodworking for Wildlife, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources World Aug 1991.

Prepared for the Western Regional Office of the National Audubon Society in cooperation with RRR,Simi Valley,Ca. a nonprofit wildlife conservation center, and Patagonia, Inc, Ventura Ca. a corporation which supports wildlife habitat protection and restoration. We want to hear about your success with barn owl nest boxes. Send comments to V.J. Ketner, 169 Via Baja, Ventura,Ca 93003. Extra copies of this brochure are available.

How to Build Nest Boxes from off -the Shelf Materials:

Fig 1.A large nest and daytime hide for barn owls made from a 55 gallon plastic barrel that was used for juice concentrate. Barrels used for petroleum products should not be used. This nest barrel has an angled side entrance about 6 x 6 inches with a landing board. A sunshade is anchored with pipe standoffs to the top, and eye bolts are secured to the sunshade. There are ventilation and drain holes in the top and bottom, respectively. As nesting material, broken bark is generally preferable to sawdust or shavings. Pine needles and leaves can also be used. Straw or hay, which support toxic fungus, should not be used. This owls will soon deposit a “felt” of regurgitated fur and bone castings that will mix with the bark, etc. Some recommend this debris be cleaned out every year, but in the wild the owls build up thick deposits with no ill effects, and its ammoniacal odor tends to repel ants and flies. Good ventilation is important both for cooling and odor dissipation.

fig2Nest barrel (fig. 1) shown proped and wired in place in liveoak tree. An open fight path to the entrance is desirable ,as is much shade as possible. Barn owls have nested twice in one season in another barrel in a similar tree location at a ranch near Lake Casitas, California. If rope is used it should be UV resistant. Galvanized wire will last for a long time, as will the polyethelene barrels, which are preferable to steel barrels. The latter are heavy overheat the owls in climatic extremes. Drain holes are essential, whichever type of barrel is used. A framed entrance hole can be provided in the barrel’s end rather than the side to optimize the flight path of a given site.

fig3 The nest containers made from one plastic barrel. These are large enough for medium to large barn owl broods and are easy to install with eye bolts in the 4 x 4 foot plywood lids. Ventilation cuts are made in the top edge of the plastic barrel, which is fastened to the plywood top with 4 inch deck screws set at an angle. If the screws protrude through the plywood strike the tips off with a hammer, and paint the top with a white exterior latex. The entrance hole is framed in with 1-inch wood strips that “sandwich” the plastic. Owls do not like to land on thin thresholds. A screened drain is provided in the bottom, which is covered with broken bark and pine needles. Barn owl nest containers should be installed at least 12 feet above the ground in an area with no human or vehicular disturbance below the nest if possible. Owls will use nest facilites in areas of disturbance if the containers are 30 feet or more above the noise and they have some period of minimal disturbance in which to “bond” to the nest container. Barn owls are very sensitive to intrusion during a critical period of brood development that extends from 1 week before hatching to 2 weeks after, during which time they will destroy the young and abandon the nest. In the early stages of incubation, they may abandon the eggs if disturbed during daylight. Best course of action is to enjoy observing the owls in the evening but do not intrude.

fig4 Nest container made from a large-size enclosed cat litter box readily obtainable in any pet store. This one has a plywood sunshade mounted with 1″ pieces of water hose as standoffs thorough which eyebolts will be used to anchor box in tree or building. A wood front and landing board have been provided, as well as drain holes. There is a factory-made ventilation opening in the top, as well as latches that hold the bottom and top together. The nesting material (bark) can be readily cleaned out by unlatching the bottom, but this should be an infrequent operation best conducted after the nesting season in late fall and early winter. Barn owls can nest any month of the year in California and use the nest boxes for shelter when they are not raising young. If you can avoid sitting nest container in the full sun do so. The full heat of the summer’s sun may force barn owls to abandon a nest.

fig 5 This is the nest box design described in Using Barn Owls for Rodent Control,on a 4 x 4 inch post set 4 feet into the ground with 12 feet elevation. This design has landing dowels inside and outside the box, a sunshade top and bock, and a clean out panel. It has been successfully used in the opening California vineyards such as this, but should be placed under trees if available. Barn owls will travel several miles from nests and roosts to their hunting grounds. Off-center placement of entrance provides more protection for the owls from attack by crows, ravens, hawks and great horned owls.

fig 6This is a large barn owl nest box that can be cut from one sheet of 1/2-inch plywood. It is for installation inside a barn,with the 6-inch entrance hole cut through the barn’s side. The nest box can be screwed into the side of the barn and into a beam if available. Its weight can also be suspended from diagonal wires fastened to the barn wall if no beam is available for the bottom to rest on. This in many ways is the ideal barn owl house if it can be placed in an area of low disturbance.

fig 7 A barn owl house similar to the design in Using Barn Owls for Rodent Control. This 24-inch cube requires 1-1/2 sheets of 1/2 -inch plywood and a 4-foot 2 x 4. The remaining half sheet of plywood should be used to make a top and back sunscreen if the box is sited in the sun. The sheets are joined with drywall screws, angle iron, or wood corner braces. One-inch dowels provide inside/outside perches.