Karen Blixen - Isak Dinesen home

Question 81: Owl in movie "Out of Africa"?

Q.  Please tell me what kind of owl was given to Karen in the movie? Was it a baby or a pygmy type?  
 
The owl was given to Karen Blixen 1 hour and 7 minutes into the picture. The young tribesman gave it to her upon her arrival home  from Denmark when she was ill. It is in her hand and hard to see but it is shown again a few minutes later in her room on her dresser. The shot is a full view and much better to see.

A. The owl given to Karen Blixen appears to be a Boreal Owl (not a baby or pygmy): an earless owl about 9-10 inches in length, light beak, pale grayish disk around the eye, short light-colored legs, blotchy breast. These owls have a reputation for being tame. The Inuit of Alaska sometimes made pets of them.

Here is a very good photo of a boreal owl: http://owling.com/boreal5.htm.  More information about the boreal owl can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Wetlands/5181/boreal.htm.

The Pearl-Spotted owl in Africa is a similar size.

  Karen Blixen and her pet owl (an African species of owl, not a boreal owl), 1923.

(This is a portion of a picture shown in the lovely photo collection, The Life and Destiny of Isak Dinesen by Clara Selborn. The enlarged photo includes a glimpse of Karen Blixen's Royal Copenhagen dinnerware.

This photo also shows that Karen Blixen did not suffer from "anorexia", which, in medical terms, is a disease of young women.)

Copyright © 2004 by Linda Donelson. All rights reserved