The Alagoas screech owl (''Megascops alagoensis'') is a species of
owl in the family
Strigidae.
It is found only in the
Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
north of the
São Francisco River
The São Francisco River (, ) is a large river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon, the Paraná and t ...
of
Brazil, and is threatened by forest fragmentation.
The holotype was collected at Engenho Coimbra. It is closely related to
black-capped screech owl in both
morphology and
genetics.
This species was
described in 2021, and thus recognized in
Avibase
Avibase is an online taxonomic database that organizes bird taxonomic and distribution data globally. At its core, the database relies on the notion of taxonomic concepts. rather than taxonomic names (see also for the rationale of using taxonom ...
taxonomic concepts.
[ It is named for the Brazilian state of Alagoas, where it was first found.]
References
Megascops
Birds of Brazil
Birds described in 2021
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