Comprehensive Description
provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Bubo capensis mackinderi Sharpe
An adult female with ovary enlarged, collected on Mount Elgon, 27 April 1965, agrees in the general markings of the underparts with a male from Mount Kenya in the USNM collection. The Mount Elgon bird, however, has a somewhat more rufous wash across the breast and along the flanks than the Mount Kenya specimen. This color also pervades the feathering of the toes and under tail coverts, which are creamy white in the Mount Kenya bird.
The wing length of machinderi is given by Mackworth-Praed and Grant (1952) as 369 to 410 mm. Our specimen from Mount Elgon has a somewhat longer wing (420 mm).
This appears to be the first record for this species from Mount Elgon.
- bibliographic citation
- Ripley, S. Dillon and Bond, Gorman M. 1971. "Systematic notes on a collection of birds from Kenya." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.111
