Pallid Scops Owl - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Striated Scops-Owl

Photo by Jugal Tiwari
Little Rann of Kutch India, February 2009

Otus brucei

Identification

21 cm (8¼ in)
Distinctly streaked on back and wing coverts due to black feather-shafts. Lacks the impression of bark that the plumage of Common Scops Owl gives, and has only a faint dark rim around the facial disk which is paler than in Common Scops Owl.
Juvenile white, but the next plumage similar to adult except for more wooly look. Is distinctly, finely barred both on upper and lower side and crown.

Similar Species

The Common Scops Owl is similar but has less distinct streaking on the back and more intricate markings.

Distribution

Middle East to West and Central Asia, with some populations moving as far as the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and India in the winter.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• O. b. brucei:

Eastern Aral Sea to Kyrgystan and Tajikistan

• O. b. obsoletus:

• Southern Turkey to northern Syria, northern Iraq, Uzbekistan and northern Afghanistan

• O. b. semenowi:

Southern Tajikistan to western China, eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan

• O. b. exiguus;

• Israel to Iraq, southern Iran, Oman, southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan

Habitat

Semi-open country with trees and bushes, including agricultural areas, palm groves, orchards.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of insects such as beetles, moths and locusts; lizards, spiders, and small mammals like lizards, bats and shrews. They occasionally hunt during the day.

Breeding

They pair off on arrival in the spring, laying their first eggs during April to June in most of their range. The 4 to 6 eggs are laid in a tree cavity, such as a woodpecker hole. Incubation takes approximately 27 days, and the juveniles are fledged at 30 days.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2016)
3. König, C. and F. Weick 2008. Owls of the World, second edition. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2
4. Beauty of Birds

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Pallid Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pallid_Scops_Owl

External Links

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