# Screech owl

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{{Short description|Species of owl}}
{{For|the word translated as "screech owl" in some English versions of the Bible|Lilith}}
{{Redirect|Screech owls|the TV series|Screech Owls}}
{{Outdated as of | topic = screech owl evolution, taxonomy, and systematics | year = 2019 | month = 09 | day = 7 }}
<!-- Much of the taxonomy section, especially the subsection on the split of ''Otus'', should be heavily revised to take Dantas et al. 2016 (Molecular systematics of the new world screech-owls (Megascops: Aves, Strigidae): biogeographic and taxonomic implications) and Krabbe 2017 (A new species of Megascops (Strigidae) from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, with notes on voices of new world screech-owls) into account.  -Spizaetus -->

{{Automatic taxobox 
| fossil_range = [Miocene](/source/Miocene) to present
| image = EasternScreechOwl-Rufous.jpg
| image_caption = [Eastern screech owl](/source/Eastern_screech_owl), ''Megascops asio''<br/>Rufous [morph](/source/morph_(zoology))
| image2 = Megascops asio-gray.jpg
| image2_caption = Gray morph
| taxon = Megascops
| authority = [Kaup](/source/Johann_Jakob_Kaup), 1848
| type_species=''Strix acio''
| type_species_authority=[Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), 1758
| subdivision_ranks = [Species](/source/Species)
| subdivision = 
Some 22, see text
| synonyms =
''Macabra'' <small>Carlo Bonaparte, 1854</small>
}}

'''Screech owls''' are [typical owls](/source/typical_owls) ([Strigidae](/source/Strigidae)) belonging to the [genus](/source/genus) '''''Megascops''''' with 22 living [species](/source/species). For most of the 20th century, screech owls were considered part of the genus ''[Otus](/source/Scops_owl)'' along with the [Old World](/source/Old_World) [scops owl](/source/scops_owl)s but were reassigned to ''Megascops'' in the 2000s based on a range of [behavior](/source/behavior)al, [biogeographical](/source/biogeographical), [morphological](/source/morphology_(biology)), and [DNA sequence](/source/DNA_sequence) data.

Screech owls are restricted to the [Americas](/source/Americas). Some species formerly placed with them are now considered more distinct (see below for details). 
[[File:Corujinha-do-sul (Megascops sanctaecatarinae) no Parque Estadual Intervales.jpg|thumb|upright|[Long-tufted screech owl](/source/Long-tufted_screech_owl) (''Megascops sanctaecatarinae'')|alt=]]

==Description==
The screech owl is about 8 to 9 ¾ inches long and weighs about 5 ounces. It is known for its prominent tufted feathers, which give off the appearance of ears. It has tufts, yellow eyes, and a bill that combines the colors of black, gray, and green and is known for its unique feather coloring, as well, having distinct horizontal barring and vertical streaking, which contributes to its uniform dark coloration. However, it noticeably has white spotting on its shoulders.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Webmaster |first=David Ratz |title=Western Screech-Owl - Montana Field Guide |url=https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=abnsb01040 |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=fieldguide.mt.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sumner |first=Lowell |title=Birds and Mammals of the Sierra Nevada |publisher=[University of California Press](/source/University_of_California_Press) |year=1953 |pages=69-70}}</ref>

==Ecology and behavior==
Screech owls hunt from perches in semiopen landscapes. They prefer areas that contain old trees with hollows; these are home to their prey, which includes [insects](/source/insects), [reptiles](/source/reptiles), small [mammals](/source/mammals) such as bats and mice, and small birds. Screech owls have a good sense of hearing, which helps them locate their prey in any habitat. They also possess well-developed raptorial claws and a curved bill, both of which are used for tearing their prey into pieces small enough to swallow easily. They usually carry their prey back to their nests, presumably to guard against the chance of losing their meal to a larger raptor.

Screech owls are primarily solitary. During the late winter breeding season, however, males make nests in cavities, sometimes reusing abandoned nests of other animals, to try to attract females. The females select their mate based on the quality of the cavity and the food located inside. During the incubation period, the male feeds the female. These birds are [monogamous](/source/Monogamy_in_animals), with biparental care. The young of most screech owls are [altricial](/source/altricial) to semialtricial.<ref name="Ehrlich" />

Northern screech owls are found in eastern states, such as [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey) and [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). The screech owls are named for their piercing calls. Their normal territorial call is not a hoot as with some owls, but a trill consisting of more than four individual calls per second given in rapid succession (although the sound does not resemble screeching or screaming). They also have a kind of "[song](/source/bird_song)" used in courtship, and as a duet, between members of a pair. Calls differ widely between species in type and pitch, and in the field are often the first indication of these birds' presence, as well as the most reliable means to distinguish between species. The distinctness of many species of screech owls was first realized when vastly differing calls of externally similar birds from adjacent regions were noted.

Recent research has identified highlighting possible health implications for humans and wildlife.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Andrade |first=Julia Penna |last2=Pereira |first2=Luiz Filipe Moreira |last3=Figueirêdo Rezende |first3=Julie Vasconcelos |last4=Faria Soares |first4=Camilla |last5=da Silva Martins |first5=Nelson Rodrigo |date=March 2025 |title=Pseudomonas monteilii and Enterococcus faecalis in a free‐living Megascops choliba : Epidemiological implications |url=https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vrc2.1045 |journal=Veterinary Record Case Reports |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |doi=10.1002/vrc2.1045 |issn=2052-6121|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Evolution==
The genus ''Megascops'' was introduced by  German naturalist [Johann Jakob Kaup](/source/Johann_Jakob_Kaup) in 1848.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1848 | title= Uebersicht der Eulen (Strigidae) | journal=Isis von Oken | language=de | at=Cols. 753–774 [765,769] | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13256490}}</ref> The [type species](/source/type_species) is the [eastern screech owl](/source/eastern_screech_owl) (''Megascops asio'').<ref>{{cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Remsen | editor-first2=J.V. Jr. | editor2-link=James Van Remsen Jr. | year=2013 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-0-8 | page=269}}</ref> The [evolution](/source/evolution)ary relationships  of the scops and screech owls are not entirely clear. What is certain is that they are very closely related; they may be considered [sister lineages](/source/sister_taxon), which fill essentially the same [ecological niche](/source/ecological_niche) in their [allopatric](/source/allopatric) ranges. A screech owl [fossil](/source/fossil) from the [Late Pliocene](/source/Late_Pliocene) of [Kansas](/source/Kansas)<ref>Specimen [UMMP](/source/UMMP) 50982, a partial left [coracoid](/source/coracoid) from Fox Canyon: Ford (1966).</ref> (which is almost identical to [eastern](/source/eastern_screech_owl) and [western screech owl](/source/western_screech_owl)s) indicates a longstanding presence of these birds in the Americas, while [coeval](/source/coeval) scops owl fossils very similar to the [Eurasian scops owl](/source/Eurasian_scops_owl) have been found at S'Onix on [Mallorca](/source/Mallorca).<ref name="Mlikovsky" /> The scops and screech owl lineage probably evolved at some time during the [Miocene](/source/Miocene) (like most other genera of typical owls), and the three (see below) modern lineages separated perhaps roughly 5 million years ago. Notably, no reliable estimate of divergence time is known, as ''Otus'' and ''Megascops'' are [osteological](/source/osteological)ly very similar, as is to be expected from a group that has apparently conserved its [ecomorphology](/source/ecomorphology) since before its [evolutionary radiation](/source/evolutionary_radiation). Like almost all scops and screech owls today, their common ancestor was in all probability already a small owl, with ear tufts and at least the upper [tarsi](/source/Tarsus_(skeleton)) ("leg") feathered.

However that may be, the hypothesis that the group evolved from Old World stock<ref name="Johnson" /> is tentatively supported by [cytochrome ''b''](/source/cytochrome_b) [sequence](/source/DNA_sequence) data.<ref name="Heidrich" /><ref name="Wink" /> The screech owls also have a different placement of the procoracoid (less of an [anterior](/source/anterior) incline) and [coracoid](/source/coracoid) bones compared to other New World owls.<ref name="Ford" />

===The splitting of ''Otus sensu lato''===
[[File:Pacific Screech-Owl.jpg|thumb|upright|[Pacific screech owl](/source/Pacific_screech_owl) (''Megascops cooperi'')|alt=]]
While late 19th-century [ornithologist](/source/ornithologist)s knew little of the variation of these birds, which often live in far-off places, with every new [taxon](/source/taxon) described, a few differences between the Old and New World "scops" owls became more and more prominent. Namely, the scops owls give a whistling call or a row of high-pitched hoots with fewer than four individual hoots per second. This call is given in social interaction or when the owl tries to scare away other animals. The screech owls, though, are named for their piercing trills of more than four individual notes per second, and as noted above, they also have a kind of song, which is absent in scops owls. A few other differences are seen, such as brown coloration below being common in scops owls and almost never seen in screech owls, but the difference in vocalizations is most striking.

By the mid-19th century,  ''Otus'' was becoming identified as encompassing more than one genus. First, in 1848, the screech owls were split off as ''Megascops''. Subsequently, the highly [apomorph](/source/apomorph)ic [white-throated screech owl](/source/white-throated_screech_owl) of the [Andes](/source/Andes) was placed in the [monotypic](/source/monotypic) genus ''Macabra'' in 1854. ''Gymnasio'' was established in the same year for the [Puerto Rican owl](/source/Puerto_Rican_owl), and the [bare-legged owl](/source/bare-legged_owl) (or "Cuban screech owl") was separated in ''Gymnoglaux'' the following year; the latter genus was sometimes merged with ''Gymnasio'' by later authors.

[[File:Bare-shanked Screech-Owl (Megascops clarkii).jpg|thumb|[Bare-shanked screech owl](/source/Bare-shanked_screech_owl) (''Megascops clarkii'')|alt=]]
By the early 20th century, the [lumping together](/source/lumpers_and_splitters) of [taxa](/source/taxa) had come to be preferred. The third edition of the [American Ornithologists' Union](/source/American_Ornithologists'_Union) (AOU) checklist in 1910 placed the screech owls back in ''Otus''. Although this move was never unequivocally accepted, it was the dominant throughout most of the 20th century. In 1988, attempts to resolve this were made by re-establishing all those genera split some 140 years earlier at [subgenus](/source/subgenus) rank inside ''Otus''.<ref name="Marshall" /> Still, the diversity and distinctness of the group failed to come together in a good [evolution](/source/evolution)ary and [phylogenetic](/source/phylogenetic) picture, and until the availability of [DNA sequence](/source/DNA_sequence) data, this could not be resolved. In the mid- to late 1990s, preliminary studies of [mtDNA](/source/mtDNA) [cytochrome ''b''](/source/cytochrome_b) across a wide range of owls found that even the treatment as subgenera was probably unsustainable and suggested that most of the genera proposed around 1850 should be accepted.<ref name="Heidrich" /><ref name="Wink" /> Though some debate arose about the reliability of these findings at first,<ref name="SACC" /> they have been confirmed by subsequent studies. In 2003, the AOU formally accepted the genus ''Megascops'' again.<ref name="Banks" />

The bare-legged owl  was also confirmed as distinct enough to warrant separation in its own genus. Furthermore, the white-throated screech owl was recognized as part of an ancient lineage of ''Megascops'' – including also the [whiskered screech owl](/source/whiskered_screech_owl) and the [tropical screech owl](/source/tropical_screech_owl), which previously were considered to be of unclear relationships – and indeed its call structure is not too dissimilar from the latter. Its distinct coloration, approximated in the southern whiskered screech owl (''Megascops trichopsis mesamericanus''), is thus likely the result of strong [genetic drift](/source/genetic_drift).

Additionally, a population of the tropical screech owl from northern Colombia has recently been proposed as the Santa Marta screech owl (''Megascops gilesi'') to the [IOC](/source/International_Ornithological_Committee).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krabbe|first=Niels K. | date=2017| title=A new species of ''Megascops'' (Strigidae) from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, with notes on voices of New World screech-owls | journal=Ornitología Colombiana|volume=16 | page=eA08 | url=https://asociacioncolombianadeornitologia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/16eA0801-27.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates/proposed-splits/|title=Proposed Splits/Lumps « IOC World Bird List|website=www.worldbirdnames.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-28}}</ref>

== Systematics ==
[[File:Western Screech Owl In Hole.jpg|thumb|right|[Western screech owl](/source/Western_screech_owl) (''Megascops kennicottii'')]]
[[File:Megascops choliba-0.jpg|thumb|upright|Rufous- and grey-[morph](/source/morph_(zoology)) individuals of the [tropical screech owl](/source/tropical_screech_owl) (''Megascops choliba'')]]
The genus contains 22 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 C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Owls | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/owls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=8 March 2024 }}</ref>
* [Whiskered screech owl](/source/Whiskered_screech_owl), ''Megascops trichopsis''
* [Bare-shanked screech owl](/source/Bare-shanked_screech_owl), ''Megascops clarkii''
* [White-throated screech owl](/source/White-throated_screech_owl), ''Megascops albogularis''
* [Tropical screech owl](/source/Tropical_screech_owl), ''Megascops choliba''
* [Bearded screech owl](/source/Bearded_screech_owl), ''Megascops barbarus''
* [Pacific screech owl](/source/Pacific_screech_owl), ''Megascops cooperi''
* [Western screech owl](/source/Western_screech_owl), ''Megascops kennicottii''
* [Eastern screech owl](/source/Eastern_screech_owl), ''Megascops asio''
* [Balsas screech owl](/source/Balsas_screech_owl), ''Megascops seductus''
* [Alagoas screech owl](/source/Alagoas_screech_owl), ''Megascops alagoensis'' – first described in 2021
* [Middle American screech owl](/source/Middle_American_screech_owl), ''Megascops guatemalae''
** [Vermiculated screech owl](/source/Vermiculated_screech_owl), ''Megascops guatemalae vermiculatus''
* [Koepcke's screech owl](/source/Koepcke's_screech_owl), ''Megascops koepckeae''
* [Rufescent screech owl](/source/Rufescent_screech_owl), ''Megascops ingens''
* [Cinnamon screech owl](/source/Cinnamon_screech_owl), ''Megascops petersoni''
* [Cloud-forest screech owl](/source/Cloud-forest_screech_owl), ''Megascops marshalli''
* [Yungas screech owl](/source/Yungas_screech_owl), ''Megascops hoyi''
* [Xingu screech owl](/source/Xingu_screech_owl), ''Megascops stangiae'' – first described in 2021
* [Chocó screech owl](/source/Choc%C3%B3_screech_owl), ''Megascops centralis'' – split from ''M. guatemalae''
* [Foothill screech owl](/source/Foothill_screech_owl), ''Megascops roraimae'' – split from ''M. guatemalae''
* [Long-tufted screech owl](/source/Long-tufted_screech_owl), ''Megascops sanctaecatarinae'' 
* [Santa Marta screech owl](/source/Santa_Marta_screech_owl), ''Megascops gilesi'' – first described in 2017
* [West Peruvian screech owl](/source/West_Peruvian_screech_owl), ''Megascops roboratus''
* [Tawny-bellied screech owl](/source/Tawny-bellied_screech_owl), ''Megascops watsonii''
* [Black-capped screech owl](/source/Black-capped_screech_owl), ''Megascops atricapilla''

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Banks">{{cite journal|author1=Banks, Richard C. |author2=Cicero, Carla |author3=Dunn, Jon L. |author4=Kratter, Andrew W. |author5=Rasmussen, Pamela C. |author6=Remsen, J.V. Jr. |author7=Rising, James D. |author8=Stotz, Douglas F. |name-list-style=amp |year=2003|title= Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American birds|journal=[Auk](/source/Auk_(journal))|volume=120|issue=3|pages= 923–931|url=http://www.aou.org/checklist/suppl/AOU_checklist_suppl_44.pdf|doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0923:fsttao]2.0.co;2}}</ref>
<ref name="Ehrlich">Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dobkin, David S. & Wheye, Darryle (1988). ''The Birder's Handbook. A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds.'' Touchstone, pp. 296–298, {{ISBN|0671659898}}/</ref>
<ref name="Ford">{{cite journal|author=Ford, Norman L. |year=1966|title= Fossil Owls From the Rexroad Fauna of the Upper Pliocene in Kansas|journal=[Condor](/source/Condor_(journal))|volume=68|issue=5|pages= 472–475|doi=10.2307/1365319|jstor=1365319|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v068n05/p0472-p0475.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Heidrich">{{cite journal|author1=Heidrich, Petra |author2=König, Claus |author3=Wink, Michael |name-list-style=amp |year=1995|title= Molecular phylogeny of the South American ''Otus atricapillus'' complex (Aves Strigidae) inferred from nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene|journal=Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C|volume=50|issue=3–4|pages= 294–302|doi=10.1515/znc-1995-3-420 |pmid=7766262 |s2cid=28746107 |url=http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/1995/6.%201995.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Johnson">Johnson, David (2003). [http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Studies+and+Papers&title=Fossils Owls in the Fossil Record]. The owl pages.</ref>
<ref name="Marshall">Marshall, Joe T. & King, Ben (1988). Genus ''Otus''. ''In:'' Amadon, Dean & Bull, J: Hawks and owls of the world: A distributional and taxonomic list. ''Proceedings of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology'' '''3''': 296–357</ref>
<ref name="Mlikovsky">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.<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623–627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 --></ref>
<ref name="SACC">{{cite web | title=Proposal (#58): Elevate subgenus ''Megascops'' (New World ''Otus'') to full generic status | year=2003 | publisher=South American Classification Committee | url=http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop58.htm | access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="Wink">Wink, Michael & Heidrich, Petra (1999). [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/1999/20.%201999.pdf Molecular evolution and systematics of owls (Strigiformes)]. ''In:'' König, Claus; Weick, F. & Becking, J.H. (eds.) ''Owls: A guide to the owls of the world.'' pp.39–57. Yale University Press, New Haven. {{ISBN|0-300-07920-6}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikispecies|Megascops}}
{{Commons category|Megascops}}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Dantas | first1=S.M. | last2=Weckstein | first2=J.D. | last3=Bates | first3=J.M. | last4=Krabbe | first4=N.K. | last5=Cadea | first5=C.D. | last6=Robbins | first6=M.B. | last7=Valderrama | first7=E. | last8=Aleixo | first8=A. | year=2016 | title= Molecular systematics of the new world screech-owls (''Megascops'': Aves, Strigidae): biogeographic and taxonomic implications | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=94 | issue=Pt B | pages=626–634 | doi= 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.025 | pmid=26456003 | doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal | last1=Wink | first1=Michael | last2=El-Sayed | first2=Abdel-Aziz | last3=Sauer-Gürth | first3=Hedi | last4=Gonzalez | first4= Javier | year=2009 | title=Molecular phylogeny of owls (Strigiformes) inferred from DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome ''b'' and the nuclear ''RAG-1'' gene | journal=Ardea | volume=97 | issue=4 | pages=581–591 | doi=10.5253/078.097.0425 | s2cid=55406064 | doi-access=free }}

{{Strigiformes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q945274}}

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Category:Symbols of Hades
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Category:Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Screech owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screech_owl) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screech_owl?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.