Cloud-forest Screech-Owl (Megascops marshalli)

Identification & Behavior: ~21.5 cm (8.4 in). The Cloud-Forest Screech-Owl has rufous-brown upperparts with two pale scapular bands. The facial discs are rufous fringed with black. The throat and upper breast are rufous-brown and grades to a pale belly with dusky streaks. The iris is always dark.  It has a buffy nuchal collar. It is similar to the more common and widespread Rufescent Screech-Owl but is distinguished by having rufous disks fringed with black and a contrasting pale belly. These two screech-owls are likely to overlap only within the limited range of the Cloud Forest Screech-Owl, which generally ranges at higher elevations. The voice, elevation, and range should be considered for proper identification.

Status: The status and distribution of the Cloud-Forest Screech Owl is poorly known. It is reported at elevations ranging between 1600-2250 m in central Peru. It also occurs in Bo.

Name in Spanish: Lechuza de Bosque de Neblina.

Sub-species: Cloud-forest Screech-Owl (Megascops marshalli), Weske and Terborgh, 1981.

Meaning of Name: Megascops: Gr. Megas, megale= large, great and scops= an owl. marshalli: In honor of  Joe Truesdell Marshall, Jr. (b. 1918) US Army, zoologist, parasitologist, and ornithologist.

See more of the Family Strigidae