Overview
Pel's fishing owl (Scotopelia peli) is a large species of owl in the family Strigidae, found in Africa. It lives near rivers and lakes, and feeds nocturnally on fish and frogs snatched from the surface of lakes and rivers. The species prefers slow-moving rivers with large, overhanging trees to roost in and forage from. It nests in hollows and the forks of large trees.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Locally in riverine forest of sub-Saharan Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Countries
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Pel's fishing owl
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
