Scops Owl

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Scops Owl
Scops Owl (Otus scops)

Scops Owl ( Otus scops )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Owls (Strigiformes)
Family : Real owls (Strigidae)
Genre : Scops Owls ( Otus )
Type : Scops Owl
Scientific name
Otus scops
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The scops owl ( Otus scops ) is the smallest European owl after the pygmy owl ; it reaches the size of a blackbird . The species is divided into six subspecies, which are, however, not very differentiated. In addition to the nominate form ( O. s. Scops ) ( Linnaeus , 1758), O. s. cycladum ( Tschusi , 1904), ( Cyclades and Crete ), O. s. cyprius ( Madarász , 1901) ( Cyprus , Levant ) and O. s. mallorcae from Jordans , 1923 ( Balearic Islands ) in Europe. The occurrences of O. s. pulchellus ( Pallas , 1771) border the nominate form to the east and extend as far as Lake Baikal ; the southernmost and brightest subspecies, O. s. turanicus ( Loudon , 1905), breeds mainly in the steppe and oasis areas of the Middle East , eastwards to Pakistan .

Appearance

The scops owl is one of the easily identifiable species of owl . The size and proportion impression of this species is very much dependent on the position of the feather ears : If they are put on, the owl looks small, stocky, large-headed (in this case there may be a possibility of confusion with the little owl ). When the spring ears are fully erect, however, it appears slender, narrow-headed and larger than it actually is.
The scops owl has a bark-colored, gray to chestnut-brown plumage with white inclusions of varying degrees. The eyes have a yellow-orange iris . On the underside of the body there are conspicuous black vertical stripes.
In flight it looks significantly shorter-tailed and less broad-winged than the little owl.

Centro provinciale (2) .jpg

voice

Apart from the possibility of confusion with the calls of the midwife toad , the singing of the scops owl is unmistakable. It is a tracker-like, almost always monosyllabic, somewhat nasal and not particularly loud "Djü" at a pitch of around 1400 Hz, which is often repeated for hours at intervals of two to 3.5 seconds (audio sample). Sometimes the main tone is preceded by an initial sound so that the call appears to be two-syllable. The call of the midwife toad, on the other hand, is "ü" without modulation and sounds brighter, and about a whole tone lower. It is vaguely reminiscent of the tinkling of bells from herd animals. Since the scops owl turns its head while singing, it is difficult to locate based on its calls. The singing activity begins just after sunset and ends at dawn; after midnight, call activity drops significantly for one to two hours. Males and females often call in a duet , the female calling in a slightly higher pitch and a little less regularly than the male.
When excited, an owl-typical single or lined squire can be heard especially near the cave .

Voice examples

In the following file you can hear two males with different voices. The first chant is characterized by a semi-vocalized initial sound, the second is missing. The second call sequence is more typical for the nominate form. In the background you can hear a second caller in the distance.

The following link points to a sound sample for the call of midwife toads.

Call of a scops owl, recorded in July 2014 on the Katarineninsel near Rovinj ( Croatia ):

habitat

The scops owl is a thermophilic (heat-loving) species that uses open, sometimes arid (dry) landscapes. Olive groves , pine forests , sparse oak stands , but also cemeteries and, in some cases, parks are suitable habitats . In the north of the distribution area it can be found mainly on heat-exposed southern slopes or in wine-growing climates. On the other hand, it does not colonize closed forests. In the European winter half-year she stays in the African savannas.

Distribution and occurrence

orange: summer bird, mostly long-distance
migrant green: annual bird or partial migrant
blue: wintering areas

The focus of the scops owl occurrence is along the Mediterranean Sea with concentrations in Spain , Croatia and Turkey . The stocks in France and Italy are somewhat more patchy . In North Africa, too, it is represented rather sparsely, in Libya and Egypt it is completely absent. In Central Europe, their occurrences reach the northern border, so the population is correspondingly thin.

In Switzerland , what used to be quite good deposits around Lake Geneva and in Central Valais have almost completely disappeared. The same applies to the distribution of the species in Austria , where only a few basin landscapes are populated in southern Styria and southern Carinthia.

In Germany there are breeding season observations every year (especially Bavaria), but hardly any breeding records. The first evidence of breeding dates from Hesse in 2007. The scops owls were breeding in a plane tree on the edge of a settlement in the Wetterau. The first proof of brood in Bavaria was made in Lower Franconia in 1960 . The second successful brood on Bavarian territory could only be detected in 2007 in the Ammersee area.

Behavior and brood

Egg, Museum Wiesbaden collection

The scops owl is a purely nocturnal bird with a two-phase activity profile. The focus of the activity is before midnight. There is usually a pronounced break between midnight and two o'clock. Around sunset or shortly afterwards the owl ends its resting phase, at early dawn it retreats into its always very well-covered shelter and mostly spends the day largely motionless; only short cleaning phases interrupt this rest period. Males and females only rarely use the same sleeping tree while rearing their young, and body contact during the resting phase was not observed outside of the courtship period. During the breeding and feeding season, the male's shelter is usually in visual contact with the breeding cave. Branchlings usually rest close together on a branch in the immediate vicinity of the trunk.

In threatening situations, scops owls assume a highly erect camouflage position . They remain motionless in this position for a long time and allow a potential enemy to come close. They only fly up late and change the debut, where this camouflage position is immediately taken up again. If there is no possibility of escape, the owl shows a wide range of aggressive behavior, such as hissing, snapping its beak and opening its eyes asynchronously, which can turn into direct attacks with claws and beak.

Scops owls often puff up their plumage during the daytime rest, but sunbathing was just as little observed as sand bathing .

The straight rowing flight is almost noiseless, in between straight-line gliding phases are also inserted. This also clearly distinguishes the species from the little owl , whose flight is always wavy. In flight, the scops owl looks extremely long-winged, but can be distinguished very well from the goat milker, which occurs in similar habitats, by its thick head.

Scops owls lead a monogamous seasonal marriage. Occasionally, polygyny was noted. Even if a partner is lost early, a new mating rarely occurs. The birds are sexually mature at around 10 months. During the breeding season, the owls are territorial, with the females defending the territory more vigorously than the males, who usually do not react aggressively to foreign females.

As a cave breeder, the scops owl usually breeds in tree hollows, occasionally it also uses half hollows in rocks and buildings. Broods in old crows and magpies' nests, as well as in nesting boxes, were also rarely found. According to the owl species, the nesting place is hardly adapted, only the immediate place where the eggs are laid is scraped out somewhat. Nesting material is not entered, that of other birds (for example in nest box broods) is not removed.

The clutch , which usually consists of three to four almost unspotted white, short oval eggs with an average size of 31 × 27 millimeters, is only incubated by the female . The young hatch after about 22 days and are looked after by both parents. With about 40 days of life they are able to harvest prey independently, but their parents take care of them for a good 20 days longer. Then they leave the parents' area.

Food and subsistence

The scops owl is primarily an insect hunter. Cicadas , grasshoppers and beetles are predominantly their prey. It also eats woodlice and earthworms . More rarely, and to a lesser extent in terms of quantity, it also preyes on various small birds, small mammals, especially real mice and shrews , as well as amphibians and small reptiles . The prey is spied from a low hide and beaten on the ground. Very rarely does it hunt in flight or on foot. It is still unknown what hunting technique she uses to catch birds.

Migratory behavior

In the greater part of its range, the scops owl is a migratory bird with wintering areas in the tree and bush savannahs south of the Sahara and north of the rainforest zone in Africa. Scops owls also overwinter in Yemen . The eastern subspecies pulchellus overwinters in India . The young birds begin migrating from mid-August and all birds have completed their departure at the end of September. The populations in North Africa, southern Spain, southern Italy, southern Greece, Cyprus and parts of Turkey are resident birds in the breeding area. Only the subspecies cyprius in Cyprus seems to be completely resident. The scops owls return to their breeding areas from the wintering areas at the end of March at the earliest, but mostly in the second half of April. The non-European subspecies are also largely long-distance migrants with wintering areas in eastern Africa. The exact migration routes have not yet been researched.

Inventory development

Inventory trends in Central Europe

Central Europe lies on the northern edge of the wide distribution area of ​​this species, so that the stocks have always been limited to climatically favorable, mostly south-exposed locations. The northernmost breeding sites were in Alsace , they have been orphaned since 1986. Nevertheless, there are also inflows into central Central Europe every year (probably due to migration ), so that occasional breeding in the southern German federal states and in the Rhine Valley cannot be ruled out.

As with all thermophilic, insectivorous species, populations have collapsed dramatically since the 1960s . The causes discussed are habitat destruction and a lack of prey due to biocide input and climate factors. In addition, there are direct pursuits and, especially with many owls, high losses from road traffic. The increasing deterioration in living conditions in the wintering areas also contributes to the decline in populations of this species. The occurrences in Hungary alone are currently showing a stable, perhaps even a somewhat positive trend. The total population of this owl species in Central Europe will currently not exceed 500 breeding pairs.

Stock forecast for Europe

The scops owl is considered to be one of the species that will benefit from climate change. A research team that, on behalf of the British Environmental Protection Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, examined the future development of the distribution of European breeding birds on the basis of climate models, assumes that by the end of the 21st century the range of the scops owl will expand to the north and Northeast will expand. Unlike most other species with a shift to the north, the current range of this species still offers suitable habitats. The potentially suitable new distribution areas include the south-east of England, Denmark, the extreme south of Sweden and all of Central Europe.

literature

  • Hans Günther Bauer / Peter Berthold : The breeding birds of Central Europe. Existence and endangerment. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-89104-613-8 , p. 247f.
  • John A. Burton (Ed.); Owls of the world - development - physique - way of life , Neumann-Neudamm Verlag Melsungen, 1986, ISBN 3-7888-0495-5
  • Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim (Hrsg.): Handbook of the birds of Central Europe . Edited by Kurt M. Bauer and Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, among others. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1987–1998. Volume 9 Columbiformes - Piciformes . 2nd, revised edition 1994. S 278-302. ISBN 3-89104-562-X
  • Theodor Mebs , Wolfgang Scherzinger : The owls of Europe. Franckh-Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 3-440-07069-7
  • Gerald Malle, Remo Probst: The scops owl (Otus scops) in Austria: population, ecology and protection in Central Europe with special consideration of the Carinthian species protection projects . Publishing house of the Natural Science Association for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2015.

Web links

Commons : Scops Owl  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andre et Odile BOUCHER: XC167697 · · scops owl Otus scops . xeno-canto.org. March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ Brood evidence of the Scops Owl in Hesse ( Memento of the original from August 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hgon-nabu-mtk.de
  3. ↑ Distribution and population of the scops owl in Bavaria , accessed on May 12, 2020
  4. ↑ Gerald Malle, Remo Probst: The scops owl (Otus scops) in Austria. Publishing house of the Natural Science Association for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2015, pp. 24–28 + 32.
  5. ^ Brian Huntley, Rhys E. Green, Yvonne C. Collingham, Stephen G. Willis: A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds , Durham University, The RSPB and Lynx Editions, Barcelona 2007, ISBN 978-84-96553-14-9 , S. yy
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 13, 2006 .