Southern Tawny-bellied Screech-owl

Southern Tawny-bellied Screech-owl
(Otus usta)
(aka Megascops usta)

Cristalino Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil
April 2003

This lovely bird was singing away just outside the lodge buildings at half past midnight so, still in our pyjamas, we went out to photograph and record it.

The Southern Tawny-bellied Screech-owl is distributed from eastern Peru and northern Bolivian to the southern Amazon Basin in Brazil.

Previously included as a sub-species of Otus watsonii, it was recognised as a seperate species by Heidrich et al. (1995) "Molecular phylogeny of South American screech owls of the Otus atricapillus complex inferred from nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial Cytochrome-b gene." Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 50c:294-302.

However, this split is not recognised by the American Ornithologists' Union who maintain it as a subspecies of Otus watsonii. See their comments.

It is found in forest usually fairly low down and it feeds mainly on insects.

There is an illustration in HBW, Volume 5, Page 178.

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