Scops owl

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Scops owls | image = WesternScreechOwl23.jpg | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Strigiformes | familia = Strigidae | genus = Otus | genus_authority = Pennant, 1769 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text. }} The scops owls, known as screech owls in the Americas, are small owls in the genus Otus of the typical owl family Strigidae. This is one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls.

In Britain, the name screech owl is also an old name for the Barn Owl.

The scops owls are small slender owls, the largest being only some 25 cm in length. They have small ear tufts and are highly nocturnal. The female scops owls are usually larger than the males. The plumage is grey, browns or occasionally reddish, and helps to camouflage the owls.

The scops owls feed on a variety of animal items, depending on the habitat in which they live. The diet may include of large insects, earthworms, aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals (like bats and mice), fish, and even other small birds.

These owls are nocturnal and usually hunt from a perch in a semi-open landscape with many old trees with unoccupied cavities (Marchesi and Sergio, 1). The scops owl’s sense of hearing helps it find prey and it also has well developed raptorial claws and a curved bill for ripping flesh. Screech owls usually eat their prey in their nest cavities because they have to be aware of other large predatory birds (FDC).

The scops owls are primarily solitary birds, until late winter start of the breeding season (FDC). The male will usually make a nest for the female to inspect in a cavity made by other animals. The female will select a mate by the quality of the cavity and food inside it (FDC). Scops owls are monogamous birds with biparental care, and the male will feed the female during incubation time (FDC). This genus of owls usually only fledges one young per year. The young of most of the birds in this genus are altricial to semialtricial (TBH, 296-298). Some of the species in the genus migrate regularly, while some are non-migratory.

Some fossil evidence shows that all scops owls have evolved from a tropical North American ancestor. The screech owl fossils found in the US state of Kansas from the Upper Pliocene, support this hypothesis . Alternatively, the scops owls may have evolved from an Asian relative (Johnson, 1). The genus Otus has a different placements of procoracoid bone (less of an anterior incline) and coracoid bone, when it is compared to other New World owls (Ford, 472).

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Species

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References

  • Alsop, Fred J., 2001. Birds of North America (BONA), Eastern region. Smithsonian Handbooks.
  • Dewey, Tanya, and Stephen McDonald, 2006. Otus asio.
  • Marchesi, Luigi, and Fabrizio Sergio, 2005. Distribution, density, diet and productivity of the Scops Owl Otus scops in the Italian Alps.
  • Ehrlich, Paul R., David S. Dobkin, and Darryle Wheye, 1988. The Birder’s Handbook. A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds.
  • Ford, Norman L., 1966. Fossil Owls From the Rexroad Fauna of the Upper Pliocene in Kansas. The Condor, 68: 472-475.
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External links

fr:Otus ka:წყრომი lt:Apuokėliai tr:Cüce baykuş zh:角鸮属

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