Striped Owl
Screech owl (Asio clamator )
The screech owl (Asio clamator ), also called strip - horned owl, is a species in the family of authentics owls. It comes in three subspecies exclusively in North, Central and South America.
Appearance
With a body size from 30 to 38 centimeters, is a medium-sized representative of its genus. Like all long-eared owls she has striking ear tufts. The face veil is pale brown with a dark edge. The body top is ocher to reddish brown with gray longitudinal stripes on the forehead, vertex and neck. The back is dark spotted and striped. The body underside is pale ocher- colored to creamy white with distinct black longitudinal stripes. The eyes are brown. Runs and toes are feathered.
Possible confusion exist with the long-eared owl. However, this has a browner face veil and yellow eyes. The Styxeule is much darker and has yellowish eyes also. The Great Horned Owl is larger and has powerful claws.
Distribution and habitat
The range of the screech owl ranges from southern Mexico through Central America to Colombia and Venezuela, both of Guiana, eastern Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay, and the Caribbean. It is a state bird that inhabited open and semi- open grassland with some scattered trees and shrubs. It is also found in the vicinity of open and semi- open woodland, marshland with shrubs, pastures and agricultural land. They settled even runways and rice fields. You're missing in dense forest and avoids general the Amazon with its dense forests. The altitudinal distribution ranges from the lowlands up into regions over 1,400 meters above sea level.
Way of life
The screech owl is a crepuscular and nocturnal owl. You shall sit in bushes or in the dense foliage of trees. Sometimes she sits directly on the ground. Outside the breeding season they can be occasionally observed in smaller troops, which sit close to each other. Your food spectrum consists mainly of small mammals and other small vertebrates and insects. Katydid play a special role in their diet. Because of their relatively strong claws, they can beat larger prey than the long-eared owl, which resembles her in size. It proposes mammals up to the size of rats and birds up to the size of pigeons. Latticed pigeons include, for example, frequently their prey. It also captures even bats.
Screech owls are territorial owls. The male shows the limits of its territory by leaving he heard from from his singing. During the mating season males and females also call alternately. Screech owl nest usually on the ground, where the nest is protected by overhanging vegetation. The breeding season varies depending on the area of distribution. The nest usually consists of three eggs. They are incubated by the female alone, which always leaves the nest during the breeding season for a very short time. It is powered by the male with food. The breeding season begins with the laying of the first egg and lasts usually 33 days. The young birds are fledged with 37 to 46 days. At the age of about 130 to 140 days, they are distributed by the parent birds from the area.