Asio — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{Other uses}} {{Italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = ''Asio'' | fossil_range = [[Late Pliocene]] to present | image = CRW 2987.jpg | image_caption = [[Long-eared owl]] | taxon = Asio | authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''[[Jamaican owl|A, grammicus]]'' (some place in ''Pseudoscops'') ''[[Striped owl|A. clamator]]'' (some place in ''Pseudoscops'' or ''Rhinoptynx'') ''[[Long-eared owl|A. otus]]'' ''[[Abyssinian owl|A. abyssinicus]]'' ''[[Madagascar owl|A. madagascariensis]]'' ''[[Stygian owl|A. stygius]]'' ''[[Short-eared owl|A. flammeus]]'' ''[[Marsh owl|A. capensis]]'' ''[[Fearful owl|A. solomonensis]]'' | type_species = ''[[Long-eared owl|Strix otus]]'' | type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758 }}

'''''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]], [[Asia]], [[North America|North]] and [[South America]], the [[Caribbean]], [[Hawaii]] and the [[Galápagos Islands]]. Its geographic range extends to all continents except [[Antarctica]] and [[Australia]].

These are medium-sized owls, {{convert|30|–|46|cm|abbr=on}} in length with {{convert|80|–|103|cm|abbr=on}} wingspans. They are long-winged and have the characteristic facial disc. The two northern species are partially [[Bird migration|migratory]], moving south in winter from the northern parts of their range, or wandering nomadically in poor [[vole]] years in search of better food supplies. Tropical ''Asio'' owls are largely sedentary. These owls hunt over open fields or grasslands, taking mainly [[rodent]]s, other small [[mammal]]s and some [[bird]]s.

''Asio'' owls are mainly [[nocturnal]], but short-eared owls are also [[crepuscular]]. Most species nest on the ground, but the long-eared owl (''[[Asio otus]]'') [[Bird nest|nests]] in the old stick nests of [[crow]]s, [[raven]]s and [[magpie]]s (family [[Corvidae]]) and various [[hawk]]s.

==Taxonomy== The [[genus]] ''Asio'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760 with the [[long-eared owl]] (''Asio otus'') as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=1 | language=French, Latin | page=28 | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010426 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1940 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=4 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=167 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476638 }}</ref> The genus name is from ''asiō'', the [[Latin]] name used by [[Pliny the Younger]] for a type of horned owl,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=2004858&p2=a|title=Definition - Numen - The Latin Lexicon - An Online Latin Dictionary - A Dictionary of the Latin Language|website=latinlexicon.org}}</ref> the feather tufts on the head of these owls give the appearance of "ears" which is a defining characteristic.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n57 57]}}</ref>

==Species== The genus contains the following nine species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=Owls | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/owls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=27 May 2021 }}</ref> {{Species table |genus=Asio |authority-name=[[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]] |authority-year=1760 |species-count=nine|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Jamaican owl]] |binomial=[[Asio grammicus]] |image=File:Pseudoscops grammicus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Gosse |authority-year=1847 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Jamaica |range-image=File:Pseudoscops grammicus map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Striped owl]] |binomial=[[Asio clamator]] |image=File:Coruja-orelhuda.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Vieillot |authority-year=1808 |authority-not-original=yes |range= South America and parts of Central America. |range-image=File:Asio clamator map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Long-eared owl]] |binomial=[[Asio otus]] |image=File:Long-eared Owl - Kisjuszallas - Hungary S4E0920 (15671750198).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes |range= |range-image=File:AsioOtusIUCN.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on |''A. o. otus'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]) |''A. o. canariensis'' ([[Gyula Madarász|Madarász]], 1901) |''A. o. wilsonianus'' (Lesson, 1830) |''A. o. tuftsi'' Godfrey, 1948 }} }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Abyssinian owl]] |binomial=[[Asio abyssinicus]] |image=|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Guérin-Méneville|authority-year=1843 |authority-not-original=yes |range=Ethiopia and northern Kenya. |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Madagascar owl]] |binomial=[[Asio madagascariensis]] |image=File:Madagascan owl (Asio madagascariensis).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=A. Smith |authority-year=1834 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Madagascar |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}

{{Species table/row |name= [[Stygian owl]] |binomial=[[Asio stygius]] |image=File:Mocho-diabo no Parque Estadual Intervales.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Wagler|authority-year= 1832 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Mexico, parts of Central America, Cuba, Hispaniola, and 10 countries in South America. |range-image=File:Asio stygius map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on |''A. s. lambi'' [[Robert Thomas Moore|Moore, RT]] (1937) |''A. s. robustus'' [[Leon Kelso|Kelso, L]] (1934) |''A. s. siguapa'' [[Alcide d'Orbigny|d'Orbigny]] (1839) |''A. s. noctipetens'' [[Joseph Harvey Riley|Riley]] (1916) |''A. s. stygius'' [[Johann Georg Wagler|Wagler]] (1832) |''A. s. barberoi'' [[Arnoldo de Winkelried Bertoni|Bertoni, AW]] (1930) }} }}

{{Species table/row |name= [[Short-eared owl]] |binomial=[[Asio flammeus]] |image=File:Short Eared Owl on the Ground.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Pontoppidan|authority-year=1763 |authority-not-original=yes |range= all continents except Antarctica and Australia |range-image=File:AsioFlammeusIUCN.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Eleven subspecies |bullets=on | ''A. f. flammeus'' – ([[Erik Pontoppidan|Pontoppidan]], 1763) | ''A. f. cubensis'' – Garrido, 2007 | ''A. f. domingensis'' – ([[Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller|Statius Müller]], 1776) | ''A. f. portoricensis'' – [[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1882 | ''A. f. bogotensis'' – [[Frank Chapman (ornithologist)|Chapman]], 1915 | ''A. f. galapagoensis'' – ([[John Gould|Gould]], 1837) | ''A. f. pallidicaudus'' – [[Herbert Friedmann|Friedmann]], 1949 | ''A. f. suinda'' – ([[Louis Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]], 1817) | ''A. f. sanfordi'' – [[Outram Bangs|Bangs]], 1919 | ''A. f. sandwichensis'' – ([[Andrew Bloxam|A. Bloxam]], 1827) | ''A. f. ponapensis'' – [[Ernst W. Mayr|Mayr]], 1933 }} }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Marsh owl]] |binomial=[[Asio capensis]] |image=File:Asio capensis (Buho moro - Marsh Owl), Merga Zerga, Marruecos.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Smith |authority-year=1834 |authority-not-original=yes |range= southern Africa |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}

{{Species table/row |name=[[Fearful owl]] |binomial=[[Asio solomonensis]] |image=|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Hartert |authority-year=1901 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Solomon Islands archipelago |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status=VU |population= |direction= |subspecies= }} {{Species table/end}}

Three [[fossil]] species are recognized: * {{extinct}} ''Asio brevipes'' (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene of Hagerman, USA) * {{extinct}} ''Asio priscus'' (Late Pleistocene of San Miguel Island and Santa Rosa Island, USA)<ref>Collins, P. W., D. A. Guthrie, E. L. Whistler, R. L. Vellanoweth, and J. M. Erlandson. 2018. Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene avifauna of San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands: identifications of previously unidentified avian remains recovered from fossil sites and prehistoric cave deposits. Western North American Naturalist 78(3):370–404.</ref> * {{extinct}} ''[[Asio ecuadoriensis]]'' (Late Pleistocene of Ecuador)<ref>Enrico de Lazaro: [http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/asio-ecuadoriensis-08664.html Giant Predatory Owls Once Lived in Ecuador]; on: sci-news; July 22, 2020</ref><ref name="LoCoco2020">Lo Coco, G.E., Agnolín, F.L. & Román Carrión, J.L.: [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x#citeas 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]]</ref>

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''.<ref>Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): ''[http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }}''. Ninox Press, Prague.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Asio| ]] [[Category:Bird genera]]