Socotra scops owl
| Socotra scops owl | ||||||||||
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Socotra scops owl ( Otus socotranus ) |
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| Otus socotranus | ||||||||||
| ( Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes , 1899) |
The Sokotra-Zwergohreule ( Otus socotranus ) is an owl from the genus of scops owl . It is endemic to Socotra Island .
description
The tiny owl reaches a length of 15 to 16 centimeters and weighs 64 to 85 grams, with the female being slightly heavier than the male. The feather ears are very short and rarely visible. The upper side is light sand-gray with noticeable dark spots, lines and scribbles and an ocher-gray band on the shoulder feathers, the underside is light gray-sand-colored with darker lines and scribbles. The ocher-gray or gray-brown face is lined with an indistinct darker collar. The eyes are yellow, the beak blackish horn-colored, the legs are feathered up to the base of the light gray-brown toes.
Way of life
The Socotra Scops Owl inhabits semi-deserts and rocky landscapes with interspersed bushes and trees. Their prey includes moths, grasshoppers, millipedes and lizards. Their call is a sequence of three or four tones reminiscent of the voice of the oriental scops owl ( Otus sunia ).
Systematic position
The Socotra scops endemic to the island of Socotra was previously regarded as a subspecies of the striped scops owl ( Otus brucei ) or the African scops owl ( Otus senegalensis ). These and all other Otus species in the region are significantly larger.
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 2013, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co.KG, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-440-13275-3 , p. 132.