Japan scops owl
| Japan scops owl | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan scops owl ( Otus semitorques ) |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Otus semitorques | ||||||||||
| Temminck & Schlegel , 1844 |
The Japan Zwergohreule ( Otus semi torques ) is an owl from the genus of scops owl . She lives in Japan and southeastern Siberia .
description
There are blackish and dull yellow markings on the gray-brown upper side. A double gray collar is noticeable, as well as a band on the back and neck. The wings and control springs are banded in light and dark. Below the owl is light gray-brown with a dark herringbone pattern. The light gray-brown face is lined with a narrow but eye-catching collar. The eyes are red-orange to dark red, the beak is horn-colored gray. The erect long and distinctive feather ears can be almost completely hidden. The legs and toes are feathered, the claws horn-colored.
Way of life
The Japanese scops owl lives in forests and tree-lined gardens, often near villages or suburbs on lowlands up to 900 meters above sea level. It mainly eats large insects, but also spiders, frogs, small mammals and birds. The call is a sad-sounding huuk that sounds at long intervals.
distribution
The nominate form O. s. semitorques inhabits the southern Kuril Islands and all of Japan from Hokkaidō to Kyūshū . In Ussuria and Sakhalin , the lighter subspecies O. s. ussuriensis , which overwinters in Korea and North China and may also breed there. O. s.pryeri from the Izu Islands and the Ryūkyū Islands has dark yellow eyes and is less gray.
literature
- Heimo Mikkola: Handbook owls of the world. All 249 species in 750 color photos. Original title: Owls of the World. A photographic guide. 2012, German-language edition, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co.KG, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-440-13275-3 , p. 158.