The Northern White-faced Owl (Ptilopsis leucotis) is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. The Southern White-faced Owl (P. granti) was formerly included in this species and the two were known as the White-faced Scops-Owl.

It is found in a band across Africa between the Sahara and the Equator. It occurs in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Uganda.

The owl was the subject of a Japanese television show, reproduced in a famous clip on YouTube. As shown, the owl has a rather notable defense mechanism.

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Otus leucotis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 July 2007.
• Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) Birds of Africa south of the Sahara, Struik, Cape Town.

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