Pemba scops owl
species of bird
The Pemba scops owl (Otus pembaensis) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to Pemba Island which is part of and off the coast of Tanzania.
Taxonomy
The Pemba scops owl was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Madagascar scops owl, Otus rutilus sensu lato, due to morphological similarities but genetic research has shown that it is closer to the clade in which the African scops owl, Otus senegalensis, is situated.
Description
The Pemba scops owl is a medium-sized scops-owl with short ear-tufts. There are two colour morphs, a brown morph which is mainly pale rufous-brown with light streaking on the head and faint barring on paler underparts and a rufous morph which is a bright, rich rufous, that is paler on the underwing coverts. Both morphs show a pale scapular band, whitish in the brown morph and pale rufous in the rufous morph. The bill is black while the cere is greenish-yellow and the eyes and legs are yellow. It is 15 cm (5.9 in) tall with a 45 cm (18 in) wingspan.
Voice
The call is a single "hoo" note which is made at irregular intervals or in a vast rapid series of 4–6 notes given at intervals of half a second. The pair duets with the male calls being shorter, and lower in pitch.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pemba scops owl” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.