- Pulsatrix perspicillata
Includes: Short-browed Owl
Identification
The Spectacled Owl is 46 cm long and weighs 850 g. It is unmistakable with brown upperparts, head and upper breast, white facial markings and buff underparts. The eyes are yellow and the bill is pale. The juvenile is even more distinctive than the adult, being completely white white apart from a chocolate brown facial disc
Distribution
It is a resident breeder from southern Mexico and Trinidad south to W Ecuador, Bolivia and NW Argentina.
Taxonomy
There are six subspecies: boliviana, chapmani, perspicillata, pulsatrix, saturata, trinitatis.
Pulsatrix is sometimes considered a full species, Short-browed Owl.
Habitat
Dense forest, but hunts in the semi-open and savanna with large trees, also in clearings and along forest edges.
Behaviour
The call is a deep hooting BOO Boo boo boo boo becoming softer and faster.
This is nocturnal species of mature forests. It nests in an unlined tree cavity, laying two white eggs. It preys on mammals and large insects, and will also take birds, including smaller owls.