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Megascops ingens

Rufescent Screech-Owl

  • Order: Strigiformes
  • Family: Strigidae

Authors:

Until recently, many authorities considered the Colombian Screech-Owl (Megascops colombianus) to be a subspecies of the Rufescent Screech-Owl. Furthermore, some authors have even regarded the smaller and more rufous-colored Cinnamon Screech-Owl (Megascops petersoni) as conspecific with the present species, although their voices and plumage both differ. The Rufescent Screech-Owl is one of the more wide-ranging Andean species of Megascops, it ranging from northwest Venezuela south to northern Colombia, before reappearing in northeast Ecuador, whence it occurs south to west-central Bolivia. Nonetheless, it is generally uncommon and not easily encountered. The distinctive white markings on the scapulars are present in both the brown and rufous morphs; the bird’s plumage is otherwise rather uniform, with large brown eyes and only vestigial ear-tufts.

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Recommended Citation

. 2010. Rufescent Screech-Owl (Megascops ingens), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=207576

This map is based on the maps available from the NatureServe InfoNatura website. The data for these maps are provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Robert Ridgely, James Zook, The Nature Conservancy - Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International - CABS, World Wildlife Fund - US, and Environment Canada - WILDSPACE.

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