Mentawai scops owl
| Mentawai scops owl | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Otus mentawi | ||||||||||
| Chasen & Kloss , 1926 |
The Mentawai Zwergohreule ( Otus Mentawi ) is an owl from the genus of scops owl .
description
The little owl becomes about eight inches long. The red morph has a dark red-brown upper side with a distinct shoulder band and a reddish-brown or maroon-brown underside with a herringbone pattern and embedded white dots. The black-brown morph is less reddish. The eyes are brown, sometimes yellow, the feather ears inconspicuous. The beak is grayish horn-colored. The legs are fully feathered, the toes gray, the claws dark horn-colored.
Sometimes the Mentawai scops owl is regarded as a subspecies of the Sunda scops owl ( Otus lempiji ), from which it differs mainly by its different reputation.
Way of life
It inhabits the lowland rainforest , but also secondary forests, and sometimes appears near villages. Presumably it lives mainly on insects. Her voice is expressed in a series of three or four harsh barking tones, hau-hau-hau , repeated every few seconds.
distribution
The species is endemic to the Mentawai Islands , where it is common in places.
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. 166.