Congo Bay Owl
The Prigogine - Owl ( Tyto prigoginei ), sometimes called Congo - Maskeneule, is a species in the genus of owls, which occurs only in a relatively small area in Africa. Very little is known about the species. The descriptions come from a Vogelbalg, two field observations and a captive individual.
Features
The Prigogine - owl has superficial similarities with the mask Owls ( Phodilus ) and is therefore sometimes also associated with this genre. Claus King believes that this similarity may have arisen by convergent evolution and assigns them to the barn owls, whose characteristic heart-shaped face veil it has.
The Prigogine - owl reaches a body length of 24 centimeters and weighs 195 grams. The eyes are relatively small, especially when compared with the eyes of the mask Owl species. The feet and beak are smaller. The body bottom is bright rust-colored with some white spots, which are outlined in black. The color of the body top is rust-colored dark. About the voice is not known.
The few observations were all made in a relatively small area in the vicinity of Lake Tanganyika. Their habitat are gallery forests at altitudes 1830-2430 meters above sea level. Are further evidence needs neither the reproductive biology nor the food spectrum.