''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, the Caribbean,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

and the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands ( es, Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the Equator west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with ...

. Its geographic range extends to all continents except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

and Australia. These are medium-sized owls, in length with wingspans. They are long-winged and have the characteristic facial disc. The two northern species are partially migratory, moving south in winter from the northern parts of their range, or wandering nomadically in poor

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

years in search of better food supplies. Tropical ''Asio'' owls are largely sedentary. These owls hunt over open fields or grasslands, taking mainly

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

s, other small mammals and some

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s. ''Asio'' owls are mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

, but short-eared owls are also

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

. Most species nest on the ground, but the long-eared owl ('' Asio otus'') nests in the old stick nests of

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

s, ravens and magpies (family Corvidae) and various hawks.

Taxonomy

The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

''Asio'' was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published wo ...

in 1760 with the long-eared owl (''Asio otus'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. The genus name is from ''asiō'', the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

name used by Pliny the Younger for a type of horned owl, the feather tufts on the head of these owls give the appearance of "ears" which is a defining characteristic.

Species

The genus contains the following nine species: * Jamaican owl, ''Asio grammicus'' (formerly placed in ''Pseudoscops'') * Striped owl, ''Asio clamator'' (formerly placed in ''Pseudoscops'' or ''Rhinoptynx'') * Long-eared owl, ''Asio otus'' *

Abyssinian owl The Abyssinian owl or African long-eared owl (''Asio abyssinicus'') is a medium-sized true owl.Burton, John A. 1984. "Owls of the world: their evolution, structure and ecology (Rev. Ed.)". Tanager Books Description The Abyssinian owl has dark bro ...

, ''Asio abyssinicus'' * Madagascar owl, ''Asio madagascariensis'' * Stygian owl, ''Asio stygius'' * Short-eared owl, ''Asio flammeus'' * Marsh owl, ''Asio capensis'' * Fearful owl, ''Asio solomonensis'' Three

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

species are recognized: * ''Asio brevipes'' (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene of Hagerman, USA) * ''Asio priscus'' (Late Pleistocene of San Miguel Island and Santa Rosa Island, USA) * ''

Asio ecuadoriensis ''Asio ecuadoriensis'' is an extinct species of eared owl from the Pleistocene of Ecuador. Known from bones of the legs, it was a robust predatory bird similar in size to the great horned owl. Based on the robustness of its limbs and the bone ...

'' (Late Pleistocene of Ecuador)Lo Coco, G.E., Agnolín, F.L. & Román Carrión, J.L.
Late Pleistocene owls (Aves, Strigiformes) from Ecuador, with the description of a new species
In: J Ornithol 161, pp 713–721; March 5, 2020; doi:10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x The supposed Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owl ''"Asio" henrici'' has been recognized as a member of the fossil barn-owl genus ''Selenornis''. ''"Asio" pygmaeus'' (often misspelt ''pigmaeus'') cannot be assigned to a genus without restudy of the material. ''"Asio" collongensis'' (Middle Miocene of Vieux-Collonges, France) is now placed in the genus ''Alasio''.Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002):
Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe
''. Ninox Press, Prague.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q648422 Bird genera