Whiskered Screech-owl

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Whiskered Screech-Owl

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Megascops
Species:	M. trichopsis

Binomial name

Megascops trichopsis
(Wagler, 1832)

The Whiskered Screech-Owl, Megascops trichopsis, is a small scops owl.

Adults occur in 2 color morphs, in either brown or dark grey plumage. They have a round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes and a yellowish bill. The bird looks very similar to a Western Screech Owl, but has heavier barring on the breast, and is slightly smaller in size.

Their breeding habitat is dense coniferous or oak woodlands, and coffee plantations usually occurring at higher elevations than Western Screech Owl. It ranges from southeasternmost Arizona-(the Madrean sky islands region), in the United States to north central Nicaragua.

These birds wait on a perch and swoop down on prey; they also capture targeted food items in flight. They mainly eat small mammals and large insects, with grasshoppers, beetles, moths making up a large portion of their diet. They are active at night or near dusk, using their excellent hearing and night vision to locate prey.

The most common call is a series of about 8 regularly spaced “boo” notes, slightly higher in the middle, slightly lower at each end.

3 to 4 eggs are usually laid in April or May, usually found in a tree cavity or old woodpecker hole 5 to 7 meters above the ground.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Megascops trichopsis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
"National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 5, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-25-3
"National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6