The white-throated screech owl (Megascops albogularis) is a small owl found in the Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The white-throated screech owl was described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1849 and given the binomial name Syrnium albo-gularis. Five subspecies are currently recognized:
M. a. obscurus Phelps & Phelps Jr. (1953)
M. a. meridensis Chapman (1923)
M. a. macabrus Bonaparte (1850)
M. a. albogularis Cassin (1849)
M. a. remotus Bond & Meyer de Schauensee (1941)
However, its taxonomy is not certain. The species has sometimes been placed in the monotypic genus Macabra, but DNA studies show it is closely related to several other Megascops owls. At the subspecies level, M. a. obscurus is sometimes considered a color morph of M. a. meridensis or M. a. remotus. The population of rufescent screech owl (Megascops ingens) in eastern Ecuador has sometimes been considered to be another subspecies of white-throated screech owl (M. a. aequatorialis) or be part of the nominate M. a. albogularis.
Description
White-throated screech owl
The white-throated screech owl is a large member of its genus. It is 20 to 26 cm (7.9 to 10.2 in) long and weighs 130 to 185 g (4.6 to 6.5 oz). It is overall dark plumaged, has a round head with very small ear tufts, and a longish tail. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark brown head and upperparts with small blackish, reddish, and white marks. Their flight feathers and tail have narrow darker bars. They have a dark facial disc with whitish marks above and below the orange eyes and a large white area below the bill that in some postures looks like large moustaches. Their chest is dark brown with tawny spots and their belly is tawny with dusky bars and streaks. The juvenile is pale buffy gray and has a black "mask" and barring on its crown, mantle, and underparts.
M. a. meridensis has a whitish forehead and eyebrows, a suggestion of a nuchal collar, and a...
