| Mountain scops owl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The nominate subspecies O. s. spilocephalus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Otus |
| Species: | O. spilocephalus |
| Binomial name | |
| Otus spilocephalus (Blyth, 1846) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The mountain scops owl (Otus spilocephalus), sometimes referred to as the spotted scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Its range extends across the Himalayas, southern China, Indochina and mountains of western Malesia. [1] Bhutan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand.
The nominate subspecies of the eastern Himalayas has a distinct more russet plumage.
It is an altitudinal migrant. [3]
It has a short high-pitched call. Their call sounds like a two-note whistle, "plew-plew" or "he-he", although the female's songs are rarely heard. Their calls can also vary between different populations allowing one to determine a bird's origin.
