Fairly large, around 300 mm, insectiverous birds, very colourful, whose Enlish name is derived from the way the bird rolls in display flight.

The Phylum Arthopoda is the largest in the animal kingdom. Members of the Class Archnida are nearly all land animals which breath through gill-like structures called booklungs. The bodies are divided into two main parts viz. the prosoma and the abdomen.
The prosoma carries the two pairs of appendages, called the chelcerea and the pedipalps and 4 pairs of legs. Arachnids are normally aggressive, predatory creatures that prey on other arthropods and even vertebrates!

We have 12 type of owls in SA. Owls belong to the Tytonidae or Strigidae Families, and 204 species have been recorded worldwide, Africa having only 33. Owls are predominantly nocturnal, predatory birds. Their plumage is soft and fluffy, allowing them to fly nearly noiselessly when swooping down on their pray. The fishing owls do not need to fly silently, since their prey cannot hear them, being mostly fish.