Eurasian scops owl

Last updated

Eurasian scops owl
European scops owl
Scops Owl (Otus scops), Kalloni, Lesvos, Greece, 19.04.2015 (16773748434).jpg
call
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Otus
Species:
O. scops
Binomial name
Otus scops
OtusScopsIUCNver2019-3.png
Range of O. scops
  Breeding
  Resident
  Passage
  Non-breeding
Synonyms

Strix scopsLinnaeus, 1758
Scops giu(Scop.  1766) [3]

Contents

The Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops), also known as the European scops owl, common scops owl or just scops owl, is a small owl in the typical owl family Strigidae. Its breeding range extends from southern Europe eastwards to southern Siberia and the western Himalayas. It is migratory, wintering in Africa south of the Sahara.

Taxonomy

The Eurasian scops owl was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . Linnaeus cited the 1599 description by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, placed it with all the other owls in the genus Strix and coined the binomial name Strix scops. [4] [5] The Eurasian scops owl is now placed in the genus Otus that was introduced in 1769 by Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. [6] [7] The genus name is derived from the Latin otus meaning "eared owl". The specific epithet scops is from the Ancient Greek word skōps for a little eared owl. [8] The term is believed to be of Pre-Greek origin; folk etymology links it to σκώπτω (skṓptō, "to mock") or σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, "to examine"). [9]

Five subspecies are recognised: [7]

Description

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. This species has a strong direct flight on long narrow wings, reflecting its migratory habits. [10]

The call is a deep whistle given by both sexes. It is similar to the call of midwife toads in the genus Alytes . [10]

Distribution and habitat

Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden Otus scops MWNH 0608.JPG
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

This bird breeds in southern Europe eastwards into western and central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southernmost Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. It was spotted in Newtown area near Kolkata for a brief period during October 2021. It was the first sighting in eastern India. [11] It is rare any distance north of its breeding range, usually occurring as a spring overshoot. It is unlikely that this nocturnal owl would be found outside the breeding season when it is not calling.

Behaviour

Breeding

Eurasian scops owls breed in open woodland, parks and gardens. The nest is usually a hole in a tree or in a wall, but can sometimes be an old nest of another species such as a crow. The clutch is usually 4 or 5 eggs. These are white and measure 31 mm × 27 mm (1.2 in × 1.1 in) and weigh around 13 g (0.46 oz). The eggs are incubated only by the female. They hatch after 24-25 days. The young are cared for and fed by both parents. They fledge when aged 21–29 days and become independent of their parents at 30–40 days of age. [12]

Diet

It takes small prey such as insects and other invertebrates. It is largely nocturnal.

Grey morph Otus scops ab cropped.png
Grey morph

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern wheatear</span> Species of bird

The northern wheatear or wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian wigeon</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon, also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curlew</span> Genus of birds

The curlews are a group of nine species of birds in the genus Numenius, characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been influenced by the Old French corliu, "messenger", from courir , "to run". It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland's Piers Plowman "Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre". In Europe, "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common redshank</span> Species of bird

The common redshank or simply redshank is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The green sandpiper is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.

<i>Tringa</i> Genus of birds

Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the green sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group—notably the green sandpiper—nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian oystercatcher</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian oystercatcher also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long straight orange-red bill, red eyes and relatively short dull pink legs. The sexes are similar in appearance but the bill of the female is longer than that of the male.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater yellowlegs</span> Species of bird

The greater yellowlegs is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It breeds in central Canada and southern Alaska and winters in southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The wood sandpiper is a small wader belonging to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. A Eurasian species, it is the smallest of the shanks, a genus of mid-sized, long-legged waders that largely inhabit freshwater and wetland environments, as opposed to the maritime or coastal habitats of other, similar species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common quail</span> Species of bird

The common quail, or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-eared owl</span> Species of owl

The long-eared owl, also known as the northern long-eared owl or, more informally, as the lesser horned owl or cat owl, is a medium-sized species of owl with an extensive breeding range. The genus name, Asio, is Latin for "horned owl", and the specific epithet, otus, is derived from Greek and refers to a small eared owl. The species breeds in many areas through Europe and the Palearctic, as well as in North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, of the family Strigidae, which contains most extant species of owl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied avocet</span> Species of bird

The pied avocet is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a migratory species and most winter in Africa or southern Asia. Some remain to winter in the mildest parts of their range, for example in southern Spain and southern England. The pied avocet is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed tit</span> Species of bird in Europe and Asia

The long-tailed tit, also named long-tailed bushtit, is a common bird found throughout Europe and the Palearctic. The genus name Aegithalos was a term used by Aristotle for some European tits, including the long-tailed tit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velvet scoter</span> Species of bird

The velvet scoter is a large sea duck, which breeds over the far north of Europe and the Palearctic west of the Yenisey basin. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas "black" and netta "duck". The species name is from the Latin fuscus "dusky brown".

<i>Charadrius</i> Genus of birds

Charadrius is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world.

<i>Strix</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Strix is a genus of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae), one of the two generally accepted living families of owls, with the other being the barn-owl (Tytonidae). Common names are earless owls or wood owls, though they are not the only owls without ear tufts, and "wood owl" is also used as a more generic name for forest-dwelling owls. Neotropical birds in the genus Ciccaba are sometimes included in Strix.

<i>Otis</i> (bird) Genus of bustard

Otis is a genus of bustard containing a single living species, the great bustard (Otis tarda).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawny owl</span> Stocky medium-sized owl species

The tawny owl, also called the brown owl, is a stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. The tawny owl's underparts are pale with dark streaks, whilst its upper body may be either brown or grey. The tawny owl typically makes its nest in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. It is non-migratory and highly territorial: as a result, when young birds grow up and leave the parental nest, if they cannot find a vacant territory to claim as their own, they will often starve.

In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus described 554 species of bird and gave each a binomial name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taxonomy of the tawny owl</span>

The tawny owl was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758, under its current scientific name Strix aluco. The binomial derives from the Greek strix "owl" and Italian allocco "tawny owl". Some early descriptions upon review were found to have somehow conflated the very different barn owl by describing it with the same scientific name Strix aluco, which in turn engendered some confusion.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2019). "Otus scops". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T155019854A155020110. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T155019854A155020110.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. For Scops giu see for instance: Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, Thomas Littleton; Salvin, Osbert; Newton, Alfred; Keulemans, John Gerrard (1885). Coloured figures of the birds of the British Islands. Vol. 1. London: R.H. Porter. pp. 98f. OCLC   1029665771 . Retrieved 2020-05-15.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 92.
  5. Aldrovandi, Ulisse (1599). Vlyssis Aldrovandi philosophi ac medici Bononiensis historiam naturalem in gymnasio Bononiensi profitentis, Ornithologiae (in Latin). Vol. 1. Bononiae (Bologna, Italy): Franciscum de Franciscis Senensem. pp. 561–567, Liber 8, Cap. 4.
  6. Pennant, Thomas (1769). "Otus bakkamoena". Indian Zoology. London. p. 3.
  7. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Owls". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  8. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  286, 351. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10)[1], with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1365
  10. 1 2 Svensson, Lars; Mullarney, Killian; Zetterström, Dan (2009). Collins Bird Guide (2nd ed.). London: HarperCollins. p. 232. ISBN   978-0-00-726814-6.
  11. Sengupta, Snehal (28 October 2021). "Rare owl sighting in New Town". No. The Telegraph. ABP. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  12. Cramp 1985, pp. 462–463.

Sources