Bare-leg screech owl
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Bare-leg screech owl ( Megascops clarkii ) |
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| Megascops clarkii | ||||||||||
| ( Kelso & Kelso , 1935) |
The bare-shanked screech owl ( Megascops clarkii ) is exclusively in Central America occurring kind from the family of authentics owl .
Appearance
With a body size of about 24 centimeters, the bare-leg screech owl is a medium to large species within its genus. It has short feather ears and a strikingly large head. A third of the legs are not feathered, which has led to the name bare-leg screech owl. The plumage is reddish brown. The underside of the body has dark vertical and horizontal stripes and whitish, almost square spots. The eyes are pale yellow.
There is hardly any possibility of confusion within the distribution area. All screech owls that occur in the same area of distribution have legs that are feathered to the toes.
distribution and habitat
The range of the bare-leg screech owl is relatively small. It occurs in Central America only from Costa Rica to Panama and in the extreme northwest of Colombia. It is a resident bird in the cloud forests at altitudes between 900 meters and 2350 meters above sea level. populated. It prefers dense primary forests and forest edges as a habitat, but is also found occasionally in lighter forests.
Way of life
The bare-leg screech owl is a nocturnal species of owl. It transmits in the thick foliage of trees. Their food spectrum includes large insects and small mammals. It tends to be a more social species of owl and is occasionally seen in smaller groups. This is true even during the breeding season.
Presumably the bare-leg screech owl breeds in tree hollows. The egg-laying falls between February and May. Otherwise, their reproductive biology has not been particularly well studied.
literature
- Claus König , Friedhelm Weick: Owls of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2
Web links
- Megascops clarkii inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ König et al., P. 289