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Scops owls are typical owls in family Strigidae belonging to the genus Otus and are restricted to the Old World. Otus is the largest genus of owls with 59 species . Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees.
The Eurasian scops owl is 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) in length with a wingspan of 47–54 cm (19–21 in). This is somewhat smaller than the little owl (Athene noctua). It perches upright and shows small ear-tufts. The plumage is predominantly grey-brown in colour, with a paler face, underparts and shoulder line.
The São Miguel scops owl (Otus frutuosoi) is a small extinct owl that once inhabited the island of São Miguel, in the Macaronesian archipelago of the Azores, in the North Atlantic Ocean. [1] Its scientific specific name honours the 16th-century Azorean historian Gaspar Frutuoso .
This is a small, variably plumaged, yellow-eyed owl with ear-tufts which are not always erect. It can be distinguished from the collared scops owl by its whitish scapular stripe, well-marked underparts, and lack of pale collar. There are two colour morphs, grey and rufous; intermediate forms also occur.
The Mauritius scops owl was the largest carnivore on the island prior to human settlement. Thus, unlike other local species of birds, it was not much affected by the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and crab-eating macaques .
The vernacular name common scops owl may refer to any of three species in the scops-owl genus Otus. They were formerly considered conspecific and are allopatric, meaning that only one species is found in any given place. In Europe and western Asia, the Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops) In southern Asia, the Oriental scops owl (Otus sunia)
Like many of the Mascarene land-birds, the genus was a distinct relative to South-East Asian taxa, in this case apparently being a descendant of the direct ancestor of the Oriental scops owl. [3] This insular scops owl had evolved gigantism, becoming twice as large and four times heavier than its continental ancestor. [4]
The Negros scops owl (Otus nigrorum), also known as the Visayan scops owl, is an owl, endemic to the islands of Negros and Panay in the Philippines, belonging to the family of the typical owls Strigidae. It has a distinct and striking rufous or reddish brown crown, nape and face. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Philippine ...