The rusty-barred owl (''Strix hylophila'') is a medium-sized "

typical owl The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owl ...

" in subfamily Striginae. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(where it is known as the Brazilian owl), and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

.HBW 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 27 May 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The rusty-barred owl is one of seven members of

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'' found in

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 southe ...

, 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). It appears to be most closely related to the Chaco owl (''S. chacoensis'') and

rufous-legged owl The rufous-legged owl (''Strix rufipes'') is a medium-sized owl. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Taxonomy and systematics The rufous-legged owl has two subspecies, the nominate ''Strix rufipes rufipes'' and ''S. r. sanborni''. The latter ...

(''S. rufipes''). Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022Clements, 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, 2021 All three have vocalizations that are very different from those of other ''Strix'' owls and genetic studies may find that they belong in their own genus.Holt, D. W., R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. L. Enríquez, J. L. Petersen, J. L. Rangel Salazar, K. P. Segars, K. L. Wood, and J. S. Marks (2020). Rusty-barred Owl (''Strix hylophila''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rubowl2.01 retrieved March 10, 2022 The rusty-barred owl is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

Description

The rusty-barred owl is about long. Males weigh and females . The species has light rusty 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 ...

s with concentric darker brown rings and small white "eyebrows". Adults' upperparts have white, brown, and orange-buff barring. The chest and flanks are orangish buff and the belly is whiter; both areas have dark brown bars. The legs are feathered. The eyes are dark brown, the bill yellowish horn, and the toes yellowish gray. Juveniles are overall buff with faint darker barring.

Distribution and habitat

The rusty-barred owl is found in southeastern Brazil from

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, in southeastern Paraguay, and in Argentina's extreme northeastern Misiones Province. It inhabits the interior and edges of a variety of wooded landscapes including montane, tropical

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, and temperate forest;

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 pine platations. It can be found close to human habitation. In elevation it ranges from sea level to at least .

Behavior

Movement

The rusty-barred owl is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The rusty-barred owl is a nocturnal hunter. Though its diet has not been extensively studied, it is known to include small mammals, birds, and

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, and probably also reptiles and amphibians. One study in Brazil found that about three quarters of the prey was rodents, and marsupials were most of the other quarter. It sometimes forages in the forest canopy.

Breeding

The rusty-barred owl's breeding season appears to be between August and October, though it has also been reported to be between December and March. It nests in a cavity in a tree. The female incubates the clutch of two or three eggs for 28 to 29 days. Males provision the female and nestlings and are reported to also brood nestlings. Young leave the nest 32 to 35 days after hatch and are independent about three months after that.

Vocalization

The rusty-barred owl's song is a "frog-like deep grunting 'grugruu-grugruugrugru'." Both sexes sing, sometimes in duet. They also make "rrrrroh" and "long-drawn 'i-ew-eh'" 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 assessed the rusty-barred owl as being of Least Concern. However, it has a somewhat limited range and its population is believed to be decreasing because of habitat loss through burning and logging. It does occur in a few protected areas.

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q899380 rusty-barred owl Birds of the Atlantic Forest Birds of the Selva Misionera Birds of the South Region rusty-barred owl rusty-barred owl