TheAmerican (North and South America)horned owls and theOld Worldeagle-owls make up thegenusBubo, at least as traditionally described. The genus nameBubo isLatin forowl.
This genus contains 10 species that are found in many parts of the world. Some of the largest livingStrigiformes are inBubo. Traditionally, only owls withear-tufts were included in this genus, but that is no longer the case.
Amolecular phylogenetic study published in 2020 found that species in the generaScotopelia andKetupa were embedded within the clade containing members of the genusBubo making the genusBuboparaphyletic. To create monophyletic genera, nine species were moved fromBubo toKetupa.[5][6]
Cape eagle-owl,Bubo capensis – south, southeast, east Africa
Arabian eagle-owl,Bubo milesi – southwest Saudi Arabia and southwest Yemen, northeast Yemen and southwest Oman, and north Oman (southArabian Peninsula)
Greyish eagle-owl,Bubo cinerascens – Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and north Kenya
The Sinclair owl (Bubo sinclairi) from Late Pleistocene California may have been apaleosubspecies of the great horned owl,[12] while the roughly contemporaryBubo insularis of the central and easternMediterranean has been considered ajunior synonym of abrown fish owl paleosubspecies.[13] Additional paleosubspecies are discussed on the appropriate species page.
Several presumedBubo fossils have turned out to be from different birds. The Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owls"Bubo" incertus and"Bubo" arvernensis are now placed in the fossilbarn owl generaNocturnavis andNecrobyas, respectively."Bubo" leptosteus is now recognized as primitive owl in the genusMinerva (formerlyProtostrix)."Bubo" poirreiri from the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene of Saint-Gérard-le-Puy in France, is now placed inMioglaux.
On the other hand, the supposed fossilheron"Ardea" lignitum from theLate Pliocene ofPlaue-Rippersroda (Germany) was apparently an owl and close toBubo or more probably actually belongs here. Given its age – about 2 million years ago or so – it is usually included in the Eurasian eagle-owl today.[14]
Because of their nocturnal habits, most owls do not directly interact with humans. However, in 2015, an eagle owl inPurmerend,Netherlands, attacked some 50 people before it was caught by a hiredfalconer.[15]
^abGill, Frank; Donsker, David;Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023)."Owls".IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved31 January 2022.
König, Claus; Weick, Friedhelm & Becking, Jan-Hendrik (1999):Owls: A guide to the owls of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven.ISBN978-0-300-07920-3
Lambrecht, Kálmán (1933):Handbuch der Palaeornithologie [Handbook of Paleornithology]. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin. [in German]
Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The fossil record of birds.In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.):Avian Biology8: 79–238. Academic Press, New York.
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