Rufous-legged owl

The rufous-legged owl (Strix rufipes) is a medium-sized owl with no ear tufts. Its upper parts are rufous brown barred with white with more white on the head and nape. It has a rufous facial disk and dark eyes, and its legs and feet are orange-brown to cinnamon. It reaches sizes of about 33–38 cm long and weighs about 300-400 grams. Its range stretches from central Chile and west Argentina to Tierra del Fuego and is occasionally spotted on the Falkland Islands. It lives in dense, moist montane forest and semi-open lowland forest where it can catch small mammals, birds, and insects. It breeds in October and lays 2-3 eggs in a tree hollow. Its call is a rapid grunting followed by high pitched nasal noises. Though it is not threatened it does suffer habitat loss because of logging in a large part of its range.

Chick, Ñuble forest, Chile

Rufous-legged owl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Strix
Species:
S. rufipes
Binomial name
Strix rufipes
King, 1828
Adult. Ñuble forest, Chile

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Strix rufipes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070513133559/http://www.owls.org/Species/strix/rufous_legged_owl.htm


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