NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Shelley's Eagle-Owl
Ketupa shelleyi (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Shelley's eagle-owl (Ketupa shelleyi) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Despite its large size, it is a very little-known, rarely studied owl that occurs in very small numbers. A specimen was photographed in the wild for the first time on 16 October 2021 in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve in southeastern Ghana.
Wikipedia contributors, Shelley's eagle-owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:39:02.469584+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ketupa shelleyi (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872)
- Name authority
- (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872)
- Common name
- Shelley's Eagle-Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Ketupa
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- subfamilyStriginae
- genusKetupa R. P. Lesson, 1830
- speciesKetupa shelleyi (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ketupa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown Fish OwlKetupa zeylonensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Verreaux's Eagle-OwlKetupa lactea (Temminck, 1820) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Akun Eagle-OwlKetupa leucosticta (Hartlaub, 1855) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spot-bellied Eagle-OwlKetupa nipalensis (Hodgson, 1836) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fraser's Eagle-OwlKetupa poensis (Fraser, 1854) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blakiston's Fish OwlKetupa blakistoni (Seebohm, 1884) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tawny Fish OwlKetupa flavipes (Hodgson, 1836) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buffy Fish OwlKetupa ketupu (Horsfield, 1821) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Huhua shelleyi Sharpe & Ussher, 1872 Sharpe & Ussher, 1872 | synonym |
| Bubo shelleyi (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872) (Sharpe & Ussher, 1872) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1244711 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CP2JQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.