Whiskered Screech Owl
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[Photo] Whiskered Screech-Owl (Otus trichopsis) This small owl ranges through the highlands of western Honduras in pine/oak habitat mostly above 1,000m. Like most screech-owls, its presence is usually only detected at night and can usually be lured in with a tape recording. One was heard on the evening of Apr. 3, 2005 near Gracias, Lempira. This photo was taken at the Entre Pinos resort in El Salvador just over the border from Ocotepeque. Source: Birds of Honduras. Photo by Larry Wan

The Whiskered Screech-Owl, Megascops trichopsis, is a small scops owl.

Adults occur in 2 color morphs, in either brown or dark grey plumage. They have a round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes and a yellowish bill. The bird looks very similar to a Western Screech Owl, but has heavier barring on the breast, and is slightly smaller in size.

Their breeding habitat is dense coniferous or oak woodlands, and coffee plantations usually occurring at higher elevations than Western Screech Owl. It ranges from southeasternmost Arizona-(the Madrean sky islands region), in the United States to north central Nicaragua.

These birds wait on a perch and swoop down on prey; they also capture targeted food items in flight. They mainly eat small mammals and large insects, with grasshoppers, beetles, moths making up a large portion of their diet. They are active at night or near dusk, using their excellent hearing and night vision to locate prey.

The most common call is a series of about 8 regularly spaced “boo” notes, slightly higher in the middle, slightly lower at each end.

3 to 4 eggs are usually laid in April or May, usually found in a tree cavity or old woodpecker hole 5 to 7 meters above the ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskered_Screech_Owl

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