Madagascar Red Owl Female
Other names known by: Soumagne's Owl, Madagascar Red Owl , Madagascar Grass Owl.
Medium-sized owl.
Rich orange-buff upperparts (including crown). Orange underparts, with paler facial ruff and belly. Pale bill, grey legs., marked with sparse black spots especially on crown, coverts and flight feathers. Rather uniform pale.
It is a rare resident of Madagascar that was virtually unknown from its discovery in 1878 to its rediscovery by researchers from the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1993. It has possibly been overlooked because of its close resemblance to the closely related Barn Owl.
This species has been downlisted to Vulnerable as recent range extensions mean its population is now thought to be larger than was previously believed, however its population is still presumed to be small and declining owing to the destruction and severe fragmentation of its rainforest habitat.
It is known to live in humid evergreen forest in the east of the island, being found in primary forest and in disturbed secondary forest.
Read more about the Madagascar Red Owl
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2154
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