Order
Strigiformes
Family
Strigidae
Genus
Megascops
 
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 - Puerto Rican Owl
 - Puerto Rican Owl
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Puerto Rican Screech-Owl Megascops nudipes

Chloe Goodson
Version: 1.0 — Published January 24, 2014

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Introduction

Puerto Rican Screech-Owl is found throughout the island of Puerto Rico. Formerly, at least, it also occurred on many of the Virgin Islands, but there appear to be no recent, confirmed records from any islands other than the main island of Puerto Rico. This is a typical mid-sized screech-owl with an obviously rounded head and no ear-tufts. There are two color morphs, brown and rufous, both of which have obvious white patches at the base of facial disc. The species inhabits forests and woodlands of all types, including within urban areas, and it occurs from the lowlands up to about 900 m above sea level. Like most screech-owls, the species is most easily located by its voice, a short, deep, trill that lasts 3–5 seconds, and which is higher pitched in the female. The breeding season of Puerto Rican Screech-Owl appears to be April–June.

Distribution of the Puerto Rican Screech-Owl - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Puerto Rican Screech-Owl

Recommended Citation

Goodson, C. (2014). Puerto Rican Screech-Owl (Megascops nudipes), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.prsowl.01