Foothill screech owl

The foothill screech owl (Megascops roraimae) is considered a distinct species by some authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union. It is found in forests and dense second growth at altitudes of 200–1,800 metres (660–5,910 ft) in northern and western South America.[1][2] Its taxonomy is extremely complex and a matter of dispute (see taxonomy).

Foothill screech owl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Megascops
Species:
M. roraimae
Binomial name
Megascops roraimae
Salvin, 1897
Synonyms

Otus roraimae
Megascops guatemalae roraimae

Taxonomy

All screech owls were formerly included in the genus Otus, but today they are placed in Megascops.

Some taxonomic authorities, including the American Ornithological Society, include a larger conspecific group with this species including the Chocó screech owl, the Middle American screech owl, and the vermiculated screech owl. When conspecific, the English name vermiculated screech owl is used for the entire group, but M. guatemalae is used for the scientific name since it is older.[3]

As there are significant vocal differences between the various populations, and voices are of great importance in species-level taxonomy in owls, it is difficult to justify keeping them all together).[4] There appear to be few, if any, vocal differences between populations in northern Venezuela, the Tepuis and the lower east Andean foothills, and the split between the "Middle American" song, a long trill, and the "Chocó" song, a short trill, appears to be in Costa Rica (rather than Panama, where all appear to sing the "Chocó" song).[1][2][3] As such, the Napo screech owl was lumped in 2018.

Appearance

The foothill screech owl has a total length between 20 and 22 centimetres (7.9 and 8.7 in),[1][2] with a wing length of between 15 and 17.5 centimetres (5.9 and 6.9 in).[5] Its tail is typically around 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in length, and its beak is a bit more than 2 centimetres (0.79 in).[5] Its tarsus is 24–31.5 millimetres (0.94–1.24 in).[5] The plumage of the Roraiman screech owl is dimorphic: one morph is overall grayish-brown and the other is overall rufous.[1]

References
  1. Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02131-7
  2. Ridgely, R. S., & Greenfield, P. J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-7136-6116-X (vol. 1), ISBN 0-7136-6117-8 (vol. 2).
  3. Robbins, M. B. (2001) Continue to recognize a broad Otus guatemalae (namely to include O. vermiculatus, O. napensis, O roraimae) Archived 2010-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. South American Classification Committee. Accessed 25 January 2011.
  4. König, C., Weick, F., & Becking, J. H. (1999). Owls. Pica Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07920-3
  5. Friedhelm Weick (2006). Owls (Strigiformes): Annotated and Illustrated Checklist. Springer. ISBN 3-540-35234-1.
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