Pel’s Fishing Owl Facts

This is the only hand-reared Pel’s Fishing Owl currently on display to the public in the world.

He was hatched for The Owls Trust in 2020 in Italy from the only breeding parents known to be in captivity.

In no regions of Africa is the Pel’s Fishing Owl at all common. It is rarely seen and the size of the population is unknown. There are recent reports of it being seen on the Mara River, the watercourse providing a barrier to the migrant hordes of wildebeest in the Masai Mara National Park.

The Pel’s has a very large, loose feathered head with no ear tufts, in contrast to the Asian fish owls. It does, however, have the same stiff wing feathers as the Asian birds without the softening fringe of curved barbs on their leading edges, so common among owls and which help to achieve their silence in flight.

Perhaps there is no need to dive silently on fish as there is onto small mammals. It has bare, long, spiny toes and strong arched talons of a fish eater that uses its feet to catch and hold its slippery prey. This is a strong owl, capable of subduing muscular fish weighing up to 2kg.

A pair of Pel’s spend their whole lives beside one river and in the nearby trees where they roost and nest. They require a nest site within 200m. of water, deep shade in which to roost, a suitable perch for fishing and deep pools that will not dry out.