Buff-fronted Owl - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Luiz
Dourado, São Paulo state, Brazil, May 2013

Aegolius harrisii

Identification

23 cm

• Black upperparts
• White-flecked wings
• Buff underparts
• Brown tail, 2 spotted white bars
• Black-edged buff facial disc
• Yellow iris

Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• A. h. harrisii:

• Patchily distributed in Colombia to Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela

• A. h. iheringi:

• Eastern Bolivia to Paraguay, eastern Brazil, Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina

• A. h. dabbenei:

• Western Bolivia and north-western Argentina (Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy)

Habitat

Mountain forests.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in a tree hole.

Diet

The diet includes rodents, small mammals, insects and birds.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Buff-fronted Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Buff-fronted_Owl

External Links

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