Ponderosaeule
| Ponderosaeule | ||||||||||
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Ponderosaeule ( Philoscops flammeolus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Philoscops flammeolus | ||||||||||
| ( Kaup , 1853) |
The ponderosa owl ( Philoscops flammeolus ) is a species of owl from the family of real owls . She stands between the scops owls and the screeching owls .
description
The very small owl becomes 16 to 18 centimeters long and 45 to 63 grams in weight. The female is on average three grams heavier than the male. There is a yellow-brown, tinted red and a gray morph, as well as transitional forms. In the north, the gray morph is the more common. The gray-brown upper side is marked with fine blackish spots and lines on the shaft. Large rust-brown areas of the shoulder feathers form a distinct shoulder band. The wings are light-dark banded, as is the tail. The underside is gray-brown with lighter and darker spots as well as rust-brown points and blackish shaft lines. The eyebrows over the large dark brown eyes are whitish, the feather ears are short. The small beak is grayish brown. The legs are feathered up to the base of the toes, the claws black-brown.
Way of life
It prefers mountain forests with the yellow pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), Douglas fir or a mixture of oaks and aspens between 400 and 3000 meters high. It prey almost exclusively on arthropods , predominantly nocturnal insects such as moths, which they often hunt over the treetops and grab with their beak. The voice is a rather deep, short call huup , which is repeated every two to three seconds.
distribution
The ponderosa owl is distributed from British Columbia in western Canada to the western USA and Mexico to Guatemala and El Salvador. In the north the population density decreases, while the species is still quite common in the south.
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. 196.