Rufescent screech owl

Rufescent screech owl
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Megascops
Species:	M. ingens
Binomial name
Megascops ingens (Salvin, 1897)
Synonyms
Otus ingens (Salvin, 1897)

The rufescent screech owl (Megascops ingens) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. This is one of the larger species of screech owls, similar in size to the white-throated screech owl. The overall length is 25 to 29 centimetres (9.8 to 11.4 in) and weight in males is 134–190 grams (4.7–6.7 oz) and 140–273 grams (4.9–9.6 oz) in females. It is sandy-brown above, vermiculated darker, the facial disc is sandy-brown, without a distinct rim. The flight feathers are barred cinnamon and dusky and the tail is cinnamon with darker brown bars. The hindcrown has buffy-whitish border. It has honey-brown eyes and small ear-tufts. The tarsi are feathered to the base of the toes.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, from elevations of 1,200 to 2,500 metres (3,900 to 8,200 ft).This relatively powerful bird is a strictly nocturnal bird that becomes active at dusk. During the daytime it mostly roosts among epiphytes on thick branches. Little is known about the life history of this bird. Larger insects and spiders are taken, as well as small vertebrates. The reproductive biology of this owl merits further study, but it will typically nest in a natural hole in a tree where it lays pure white eggs directly on the bottom of the cavity.

The rufescent screech owl is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.

References

• "Owls: A Guide to the Owls of the World" by Claus Konig, Friedhelm Welck & Jan-Hendrik Becking. Yale University Press (1999), ISBN 978-0-300-07920-3.