The Middle American screech owl (''Megascops guatemalae''), also known as the Guatemalan screech owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found from northern Mexico to western Panama.

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of the Middle American screech owl is somewhat unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes these six subspecies, but notes that ''fuscus'' and ''dacrysistactus'' might not be distinct enough to warrant subspecies status. *''M. g. hastatus'' Ridgway (1887) *''M. g. cassini'' Ridgway (1878) *''M. g. fuscus''

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1573 ...

& Peters (1939) *''M. g. guatemalae'' Sharpe (1875) *''M. g. dacrysistactus'' Moore & Peters (1939) *''M. g. vermiculatus'' Ridgway (1887) Until July 2023 the IOC treated ''vermiculatus'' as a separate species, the vermiculated screech owl; the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS/NACC) 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 ...

had included it earlier.Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., and K. Winker. 2023. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.americanornithology.org/taxa/Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' (HBW) retains ''vermiculatus'' as the separate vermiculated screech owl.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022 The AOS/NACC and Clements add another subspecies, ''M. g. thompsoni'', which the IOC includes within the nominate ''M. g. guatemalae''.

Description

The Middle American screech owl is long and weighs . It is dimorphic, with one morph overall grayish-brown and the other overall rufous. Unlike other owls of the same genus, it has feathered feet. The brown morph has a light brown

facial disc In ornithology, the facial disc is the concave collection of feathers on the face of some birds—most notably owls—surrounding the eyes. The concavity of the facial disc forms a circular paraboloid that collects sound waves and directs those ...

with a thin dark border, thin white brows over yellow eyes, and short dark "ear" tufts. Its crown and upperparts range from dark gray brown to blackish brown; the crown has blackish spots and bars and the back has darker streaks and

vermiculation Vermiculation is a surface pattern of dense but irregular lines, so called from the Latin ''vermiculus'' meaning "little worm" because the shapes resemble worms, worm-casts, or worm tracks in mud or wet sand. The word may be used in a number of ...

s. The fairly long tail is barred. The underparts are paler with conspicuous longitudinal stripes and some horizontal stripes. The beak is greenish. The rufous morph is overall reddish and the various streaks and stripes are less distinct. The various subspecies are similar, differing mainly in size (which increases north to south) and the intensity of the colors.Holt, D. W., R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. L. Enríquez, J. L. Petersen, J. L. Rangel Salazar, K. P. Segars, K. L. Wood, G. M. Kirwan, and J. S. Marks (2020). Middle American Screech-Owl (''Megascops guatemalae''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.vesowl.01 retrieved August 12, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The six subspecies of Middle American screech owl recognized by the IOC are found thus: *''M. g. hastatus'', western Mexico from

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

and

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south to

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

and Oaxaca *''M. g. cassini'', eastern Mexico from Tamaulipas south to northern Veracruz *''M. g. fuscus'', central Veracruz *''M. g. guatemalae'', from southeastern Veracruz and northeastern Oaxaca (including the Yucatán Peninsula and Cozumel Island) south through Belize and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

into

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

*''M. g. dacrysistactus'', northern Nicaragua *''M. g. vermiculatus'', extreme eastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica into western Panama The Yucatán and Cozumel populations of ''guatemalae'' are treated as ''M. g. thompsoni'' by the AOS/NACC and Clements. The Middle American screech owl inhabits several types of humid to semi-arid landscapes including evergreen, semi-deciduous, and thorn forest, and to a lesser extent

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

and plantations. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The Middle American screech owl is nocturnal; it hunts mostly by swooping on prey from a perch and also by catching it in flight. Its diet is mostly large insects but sometimes includes small vertebrates.

Breeding

Little is known about the Middle American screech owl's breeding biology. It apparently nests mostly in March and April but may extend that into June. The clutch of two or three eggs is laid in a natural tree cavity or abandoned woodpecker hole.

Vocalization

The Middle American screech owl's principal territorial song is "a rapid, quavering trill...increasing in pitch and volume, ndending abruptly". Its secondary song is a "short series of notes...in bouncing-ball rhythm."

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 ...

follows HBW taxonomy and so has separately assessed the Middle American and vermiculated screech owls. Both are assessed as being of Least Concern. The population size of neither is known but both are believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats to either have been identified. The species potentially faces threats from habitat loss. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists the Middle American screech owl in Appendix II.