Glaucidium tephronotum medje Chapin 1932

Glaucidium tephronotum elgonense Granvik

This rare owl has been taken in scattered localities from Ghana to Mount Elgon. Each population has been found to be somewhat different from the other, and new names have been proposed in recognition of these differences. Although we have not seen the type of elgonense, a single female from the Kakamega Forest, collected on 22 March 1965, agrees rather well with Granvik’s (1934) description of his bird from Mount Elgon, and we are referring our specimen from Kakamega, at least tentatively, to that subspecies. Measurements of our bird are as follows: wing 121, tail 85 (worn), culmen 12, and tarsus 25 mm.

This specimen appears to be only the second known example of Glaucidium tephronotum from Kenya.