Rufescent Screech Owl - Megascops ingens
Formerly Otus ingens
Calls - Megascops ingens
Introduction: The Rufescent Screech Owl is relatively large for a screech Owl and has small ear-tufts.
[For help with terms used in the description, see parts of an owl. For general characteristics common to most owl species, see owl physiology.]
Description: The indistinct facial disc is buffish-brown,
and slightly marked with darker concentric lines around the eyes, which are
honey-brown. Cere and bill are olive-yellow. The ear tufts are short, and the
crown indistinctly scalloped buffish and dark.
The upperparts are rather dark
olive-tawny, rufous or grey-brown, with fine dark vermiculations and some fine
whitish spots. Scapulars have buffish-white edges, forming an indistinct pale
band across the shoulder. The flight feathers are barred cinnamon and dusky,
while the tail has cinnamon and darker brown bars.
The underparts are paler
than the upperparts, with a few thin shaft-steaks and fine dark and buffish-white
Tarsi are densely feathered to the base of the yellowish-grey
toes. Claws are pale horn with darker tips.
Size: Length 25-28cm. Wing length 184-208mm. Tail length
94-113mm. Weight 134-223g. Females are heavier than males.
Habits: The Rufescent Screech Owl is a strictly nocturnal
bird, becoming active at dusk. It roosts during the day among epiphytes
(non-parasitic plants that grow in trees) on thick branches, often close to the
Voice: The A-song is a phrase of about 50 equally spaced
ut notes in rather rapid succession, lasting about 10 seconds or longer -
utututututututut. This sequence begins softly and increases gradually
in volume, and sometimes falls in pitch. The B-song is apparently a series of
evenly pitched notes, accelerating suddenly after about the fourth note, but
with a slightly longer interval before the final note (like a bouncing ball) -
bu bu bu bu bububububu-bu.
Hunting & Food: This owl feeds on larger insects and
spiders, as well as small vertebrates.
Breeding: Little is known about the breeding biology of the
Rufescent Screech Owl. They most likely nest in natural holes in trees.
Habitat: Humid forest on mountain slopes with plenty of
epiphytes. Ranges from about 1200 to 2500m above sea level.
Distribution: Eastern slopes of the Andes locally from
Venezuela to Ecuador, Peru and northern Bolivia.
Distribution of the Rufescent Screech Owl Megascops ingens
Status: Probably rare and endangered.
Original Description: Salvin, Osbert. 1897. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club (BBOC), 6, p. 37.
M. i. ingens,
M. i. venezuelanus
Page compiled by Deane Lewis. Page last updated 2015-01-12
OwlPages.com Owl Species ID: 040.120.000