The Maghreb owl (''Strix mauritanica'') is an

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

of the

earless owl ''Strix'' is a genus of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae), one of the two generally accepted living families of owls, with the other being the barn-owl (Tytonidae). Common names are earless owls or wood owls, though they are not the onl ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, ''Strix''. It occurs in northwestern Africa from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

. It was previously considered a subspecies of the

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, an ...

. This species is a rather dark grey-brown with no evidence of morph colour variation. It is slightly dull, cooler and more uniform hue overall than ''Strix aluco aluco'' or ''Strix aluco sylvatica''. Study of genetic materials, including

phylogeography Phylogeography is the study of the historical processes that may be responsible for the past to present geographic distributions of genealogical lineages. This is accomplished by considering the geographic distribution of individuals in light of ge ...

, and the species dispersal behaviour, supports the division of ''Strix aluco maurtanica'' from the European subspecies, and it may even form its own species, with the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

as a natural gap between the ranges.Doña, J., Ruiz-Ruano, F. J., & Jovani, R. (2016). ''DNA barcoding of Iberian Peninsula and North Africa Tawny Owls Strix aluco suggests the Strait of Gibraltar as an important barrier for phylogeography''. Mitochondrial DNA Part A, 27(6), 4475-4478. Although sometimes suggested as about 5% smaller than ''Strix aluco aluco'', current data suggest it is of similar size to Italian nominate owls and Spanish ''Strix aluco sylvatica'' found on the other side of the Mediterranean. Standard measurements of both sexes are known to be in wing chord length, in tail length, in tarsal length and in bill length. Weight of males has been reported at whilst that of females at .

References

Maghreb owl The Maghreb owl (''Strix mauritanica'') is an owl of the earless owl genus, ''Strix''. It occurs in northwestern Africa from Morocco to Tunisia and Mauritania. It was previously considered a subspecies of the tawny owl. This species is a rat ...

Birds of North Africa

{{Strigiformes-stub