**1. Introduction**

There is a strong cultural link between humans and birds. Few birds or animals have gathered so many different and contradictory beliefs about them: Owls have been both feared and venerated, despised and admired, considered wise and foolish, and associated with witchcraft and medicine, the weather, and births and deaths and have even found their way into *haute cuisine* [1].

Folklore has it that owls are birds of ill omen and that deception is one of their favorite ploys. As a counterbalance, it must be said that the owl has been widely admired through the ages by deities, scholars, poets, and animal lovers in general [2].

For centuries, people have been using indigenous birds, not just for food and decorative purposes, but also to treat illnesses and to help them deal with difficult and often unexplained psychological and spiritual affairs. Birds have been used to treat physical and mental illnesses, strengthen relationships, encourage good luck, help promote dignity, cast spells, and strengthen individuals and give them protection against evil spells. Mankind has built up a whole range of superstitions about owls, a curious mixture of feelings in which the owl figures as a good or bad creature. Common to many societies is the belief that owls have superhuman powers [3].

There are few regions of the world where owls have had quite the impact that they have on African societies. Throughout the entire continent, there is a complex, sometimes contradictory, but more often corresponding, body of mythology and folklore centered on these birds [4]. For this chapter, I have collected mainly African examples of how owls are used as food, in traditional medicine, or as means of sorcery.
