Species profile
About the pel’s fishing owl
Pel's fishing owl is a giant among owls: rufous-ginger, finely barred, with enormous dark eyes and no ear tufts. It hunts fish from a low branch over water, dropping feet-first onto the surface, and because it does not need silent flight for fishing its wings lack the soft fringing that muffles other owls.
It is a bird of undisturbed riverine forest with deep permanent water, which makes the Rufiji in Nyerere National Park the outstanding place to look for it in Tanzania. Finding one roosting in a riverside fig is a highlight of any birding safari.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Nocturnal. Watches from a low branch and snatches fish from the surface with its feet, then eats on a perch. Roosts in dense riverside canopy by day.
Social life
Monogamous pairs holding a long stretch of river, calling to each other with a deep hollow hoot that carries over three kilometres.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Bare, spiny-soled toes for gripping fish, and wings without the sound-damping fringes other owls need — silence is unnecessary over water.