Mayotte Scops Owl - BirdForum Opus

Identification

24 cm. Occurs in grey, brown and rufous morphs and many intermediates. A very variable species.

Pale facial disc, darker around eyes, with off-white eyebrows and white chin and lores
Prominent ear-tufts
Dark grey-brown to brown upperparts, often with rufous tinge, with buffish spots and black shaft streaks
Black-edged white spots on scapulars
Barred flight-feathers and tail
Paler underparts with bold blackish streaks and faint vermiculations
Rufous morph with strongly tinged rufous plumage, sometimes nearly without any black markings
Tarsus feathered to toes
Yellow eyes

Sexes similar. Juveniles similar to adults.

Endemic to Mayotte Island (Comoros Islands).
Generally common in suitable habitat.

This is a monotypic species.
It was formerly included in Madagascar Scops Owl.

Lowland secondary forest.

Nocturnal. Spends daytime hidden in thick foliage.

Feeds on insects, especially beetles and moths. Takes possibly also some small vertebrates.

No information.

Presumably a resident species.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1999. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334252

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Mayotte Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mayotte_Scops_Owl