The cinereous owl (''Strix sartorii'') or Mexican barred owl, is an owl that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Mexico.

Taxonomy and systematics

The cinereous owl has variously been considered a subspecies of barred owl (''Strix varia'') or even a barred owl that included what is now the

fulvous owl The fulvous owl (''Strix fulvescens''), or Guatemala barred owl, is a resident of the cloud forests of Central America. A medium-sized true owl, it has a round head, lacking ear tufts. Typical coloration is warm dark brown or reddish brown on th ...

(''Strix fulvescens''). However, since 2010, vocal and genetic differences have been shown to warrant its treatment as a species in its own right, according to the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC) and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

. However, as of December 2020 the

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

retains it as a subspecies of barred owl.Spencer, A. J. (2021). Cinereous Owl (''Strix sartorii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. J. Spencer, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.barowl13.01 retrieved September 7, 2021Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Description

Very few specimens of cinereous owl have been measured. The limited number of measurements indicate lengths between , male weights between , and female weights between This large round-headed owl's upperparts are brownish gray with whitish to buff bars. It has grayish white to brownish gray facial disks surrounded by darker brown and buffy bars. Its underparts are pale buff to white with dark streaks.

Distribution

The cinerous owl appears to occur in three disjunct areas. The largest is along the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

between San Luis Potosi in the north and

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

in the south. The next largest is a band from

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

south to

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

and the third is a relatively small area in Guerrero. It is believed to formerly have occurred in

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

Behavior

Feeding

Little is known about the cinereous owl's foraging strategy or diet, but both are assumed to be similar to that of the barred owl. That species is semi-nocturnal to nocturnal and is an opportunistic predator on small mammals and lagomorphs, small birds, reptiles, and invertebrates.

Breeding

The only information about the cinereous owl's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

comes from the observation of a fledgling of unknown age in Nayarit in early June. It had well-developed flight feathers but downy body plumage.

Vocalization

The first recordings of the cinereous owl's vocalizations were made in 2015 and very few since then. It has a variety of hoots and other calls.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has not assessed the status of the cinereous owl, and "every aspect of the biology of Cinereous Owl is in dire need of more research."