From the perch they scan the ground for movement, using both their eyes and ears to detect it, flying silently in pursuit of whatever suitable prey they see. From the third week, the female spends less time in the nest and starts to help the male with the hunting. Spotted eagle-owls are found in Sub-Saharan Africa from Kenya and Uganda south to the Western Cape in South Africa. The incubation period lasts approximately 32 days. The chicks hiss and click their beaks if they feel threatened. The name was probably derived from the owl’s call ‘uhu’ and is an ancient name that was borrowed into many languages. The female rarely leaves the nest during the first two weeks, with the male owl providing all the food. Owls are predators and don’t have many natural enemies. Rarely as many as five or six eggs are laid in a year of prey abundance. Accessed 11 September 2014. At Kirstenbosch, when they are not in their familiar breeding spot, a way to find which trees they are roosting in for the day is to look for their telltale white droppings and pellets on the floor underneath, although take note that not all white droppings are owl droppings. DIET: Spotted Eagle Owl feeds on invertebrates, small mammals, birds and reptiles. Wild and rural owls will hide or retreat from people and watch them approach. They might present such behavior either as a challenge to rival owls or when defending a nest or young against enemies. & Milstein, P. le S. Compilers, 1989. Barred owls may also compete with Spotted owls for food and space in some areas, thus having a negative effect on northern spotted owl survival and fecundity in some areas. They hunt at dusk and at night, rarely during the day. They prey on insects such as crickets and large beetles, small mammals such as shrews, mice, rats, squirrels and mole-rats, and birds up to the size of a Laughing Dove, including Cape Spurfowl (Francolin) and Helmeted Guineafowl chicks. They hunt from perches and will use any feature of the landscape that gives them a good vantage point, such as trees or rocky ridges, as well as telephone poles, streetlights, pylons, walls, chimneys and the garden’s signage. They fly at the intruder, sometimes scratching them with their talons. They could also mimic the facial patterns of potential predators, such as caracal, causing the ‘look-a-like’ predator to withdraw in the event of a face-to-face encounter. Spotted Eagle-Owls will aggressively defend their territory from other owls, mostly young owls trying to move in. Spotted eagle-owls are nocturnal hunters; they usually hunt by swooping down toward the prey and either catch it directly or pursue it on foot. 2. 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