In the wake of 150 years being eluded by ecologists, an enormous Owl has been finally captured.
An enormous owl which has been a mystery to researchers for more than 150 years was photographed on the open plains of Ghana.
The owl that is in question is an Shelley’s Eagle Owl, a species that birdwatchers are eager to spot because reports of sightings are not always confirmed.
As per Imperial College London, no credible reports of this kind have been reported from Ghana from the 1870s at the time it was first documented but only a few glimpses were gathered elsewhere (ICL).
This was changed in the last week when two scientists from Ghana’s Atewa forest snapped a crystal-clear image of the bird sitting on a tree.
Joseph Tobias of ICL’s Department of Life Sciences and Robert Williams, a freelance Ecologist, came across it.
“There is no other bird in Africa’s rainforests as enormous,” Tobias said in a press release, stating to the press release that, when researchers raised their binoculars to see the elusive owl, their jaws dropped.
Fortunately they managed to get their group together to take a photograph prior to the bird flying off within 10 to 15 seconds.
The bird’s head tilts around 180 degrees and appears to be staring right at the camera. The image is available here.
According to ICL the photo’s clarity is vital. The photo was made in 1975 at the Antwerp Zoo, was regarded as “grainy,” and another “from Congo in 2005 as certainly not the right species,” according to the report. There are other instances when people claim that they have seen or heard about a Shelley’s Eagle Owl in various regions of Africa However, the claims are not always verified according to ICL.
The bird is among the owls that are least known in Africa. Based on Bird Life International, its behaviour and ecology such as its behavior, for instance are mostly unknown.
According to eBird The bird is huge, sporting deep eyes that are dark and brown on the upper body parts.
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Tobias and Williams The discovery of the pair is “sensational,” according to Nathaniel Annorbah of Ghana’s University of Environment and Sustainable Development and said: “We’ve been searching for this mysterious bird for years in the western lowlands, so to find it here in the ridgetop forests of the Eastern Region is a huge surprise.”
Shelley’s Eagle Owl is designated as vulnerable by Bird Life International, with its decline due to habitat loss. This is a simplified version of the data.