Order
Strigiformes
Family
Strigidae
Genus
Strix
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Fulvous Owl Strix fulvescens

Erin Sawa
Version: 1.0 — Published November 7, 2014

Appearance

Distinguishing Characteristics

Fulvous Owl is a large, round headed owl, lacking "ear" tufts, and with dark irides. Fulvous Owl is rusty brown above, with whitish spots, and with tawny bars across the back. The underparts are buff or ochraceous buff, with narrow dark barring on the breast and sparser dark streaks on the belly. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are very different: they are ochraceous buff overall, with a darker facial disk.

Similar Species

Fulvous Owl is most similar to its congener, Barred Owl (Strix varia). Fulvous Owl is more tawny brown or fulvous above, and buffier below; the upperparts of Barred Owl are grayer, and the underparts are whiter. Fulvous Owl is smaller than the Barred Owl; Fulvous Owl is generally about 20% smaller than Mexican populations of Barred Owl (König and Weick 2008), and the two species differ in Vocalizations (Edwards 1998, Marcot 1995).

Mottled Owl (Ciccaba virgata) is superficially similar to Fulvous Owl but occurs only at lower elevations. Mottled Owl is smaller, generally dark brown, with dark brown facial disk with a prominent whitish border (rather than a pale disk with a dark border), and the breast is streaked, not barred.

Detailed Description

The following description is based primarily on Ridgway (1914) and König and Weick (2008):

Adult: Sexes similar. Facial disc is pale ochre or dull brownish white, darkening around the eyes and concentrically barred and rimmed with dark brown, with short whitish brows. Crown, nape and upperparts a rich, warm dark brown or rufous brown; crown and nape coarsely scalloped tawny to ochraceous buff; rest of upperparts with coarse but relatively sparse buff to ochraceous buff bars, bars smaller and less regular on scapulars, lower back, and rump. Rectrices dark brown, crossed by four or five narrow distinct pale ochraceous buff or buffy white bars. Wing coverts with small, indistinct pale brown and ochraceous bars and spots; the outer webs of the outer greater and median coverts also with a large round white subterminal spot. Outer webs of primaries with large spots, which are whitish on the outer primaries but pale brown on the inner primaries; secondaries with five or six broad pale brown bands. Underparts buff, ochraceous buff, or ochraceous fulvous; neck, sides of head and upper breast coarsely barred dark brown or chestnut-brown, and rest of underparts coarsely streaked dark brown or rufescent brown. Undertail coverts buff, with only a few dark shaft streaks, restricted to the longest feathers

Juvenile: Downy chick whitish. Juvenile ochraceous buff or cinnamon-brown overall, barred pale yellowish-orange and white, with faint bars darker on upperparts; facial disc brownish.

Molts

Undescribed; probably follows the complex basic molt strategy.

Bare Parts

Iris: dark brown or blackish-brown

Bill: dull yellow or corn-yellow; cere dull yellow or yellowish

Tarsi and toes: tarsi feathered ochraceous-fulvous; toes feathered only near base; bare parts of toes dull yellow or yellowish gray; claws dusky horn tipped with black

Bare parts color data from Dickey and van Rossem (1938) and König and Weick (2008).

Measurements

Total length: 38-48.5 cm (Howell and Webb 1995), 41-44 cm (König and Weick 2008).

Linear measurements:

wing length: 300 mm, 325 mm (n = 2, female; Ridgway 1914); mean 307 mm (range 300-310 mm, n = 5, unsexed; Ridgway 1914); range 300-333 mm (n and sex not specified; König and Weick 2008).

tail length: 192 mm, 200 mm (n = 2, female; Ridgway 1914); mean 202.8 mm (range 188-210 mm, n = 5, unsexed; Ridgway 1914); range 185-203 mm (n and sex not specified; König and Weick 2008).

bill length (culmen from cere): 22.5 mm, 24.5 mm (n = 2, female; Ridgway 1914); mean 23 mm (range 22-24 mm, n = 5, unsexed; Ridgway 1914)

Mass: None reported.

Recommended Citation

Sawa, E. (2014). Fulvous Owl (Strix fulvescens), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.fulowl1.01