Buff-fronted owl
The buff-fronted owl (Aegolius harrisii) is a small owl, a rare and local resident in the highlands of South America from Venezuela south and east to Peru, northern Argentina, and northwest Paraguay. Its range is effectively separated into two parts by the unsuitable habitat of the Amazon basin.
| Buff-fronted owl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Buff-fronted Owl at Dourado, São Paulo State, Brazil | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Aegolius |
| Species: | A. harrisii |
| Binomial name | |
| Aegolius harrisii (Cassin, 1849) | |
This nocturnal bird breeds in open mountain forests, laying its eggs in a tree hole. It takes rodents and other small mammals as its main prey, but also feeds on birds and insects.
The buff-fronted owl is a small, compact, short-tailed, and broad-winged owl, approximately 23 cm long and weighing approximately 130 g. It is black above with white flecking on the wings. The underparts are unstreaked buff and the tail is brown with two spotted white bars. The head is large, with yellow eyes and a black-edged buff facial disc. The flight is strong and direct. The voice is a quavering trill sometimes varying in pitch.
The buff-fronted owl was described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1849, and given the binomial name Nyctale harrisii.[2][3] The binomial commemorates the American ornithologist Edward Harris.[4]
References
- BirdLife International (2012). "Aegolius harrisii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Cassin, John (1849). "Description of new species of the genera Nyctale, Brehm., and Sycobius, Vieill.; specimens of which are in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 4: 157–158 [157]. The title page is dated 1848 but the volume was not published until the following year.
- Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 174.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Further reading
- Hilty Birds of Venezuela ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Hilty and Brown Birds of Colombia ISBN 0-691-08371-1