[8] Going on standard measurements, the Shelley's eagle-owl would appear to be even larger than the aforementioned total length and body mass suggest.

The light morphs have an off-white to pale tawny facial disc, with a prominent rim marked with a blackish-brown border.

Fraser's eagle-owl is also considerably smaller, has less barring, a warmer tawny overall colouration, and bare, bluish-grey toes.

The Verreaux's eagle-owl does not occur in deep forest and the Shelley's has never been recorded outside of it, but it is conceivable that either may seldom visit Forest-savanna mosaics.

[1][11] One isolated population is thought to live in a small area of inland Liberia, as well as adjacent extreme southeast Sierra Leone, western Ivory Coast and the southeastern tips of Guinea.

[6] The Shelley's eagle-owl is a nocturnal bird which spends its days roosting in dense foliage, reportedly often at quite low levels in trees.

In Democratic Republic of the Congo various stages of development were witnessed in different months: recently fledged young in April, a large nestling in September and a juvenile in mesoptile plumage in early November.

[9] The powerful talons and feet of the species suggest that its preferred prey consists of medium-sized mammals and large birds.

[6] Due to its habitation of dense rainforest, it is clear that the species is threatened by any habitat loss within its native range.

The habitat destruction of the Guinean Forests of West Africa has been rampant as well as in the Congolian rainforests, thus compromising nearly all of this species' range.