Strix virgata

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Strigiformes

Familia: Strigidae
Subfamilia: Striginae
Genus: Strix
Species: Strix virgata
Subspecies: S. v. borelliana – S. v. centralis – S. v. macconnelli – S. v. squamulata – S. v. superciliaris – S. v. tamaulipensis – S. v. virgata
Name

Strix virgata (Cassin, 1849)
Synonyms

Syrnium virgatum (protonym)
Ciccaba virgata (Cassin, 1849)

References

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 4(1848) p. 124

Vernacular names
čeština: puštík proměnlivý
dansk: Spættet Natugle
Deutsch: Sprenkelkauz
English: Mottled Owl
español: Cárabo Café
eesti: välukakk
suomi: viirumetsäpöllö
français: Chouette mouchetée
Avañe'ẽ: Kavure guasu
magyar: pettyegetett bagoly
italiano: Civetta marezzata
日本語: ナンベイヒナフクロウ, nambeihinafukurou
Nederlands: Bonte Bosuil
norsk: Demonugle
polski: puszczyk pstry
português do Brasil: Coruja-do-mato
português: Coruja-de-bigodes
русский: Пятнистая циккаба
slovenčina: sova čiarková
svenska: Brunstrimmig uggla
中文: 点斑林鸮

The mottled owl (Strix virgata) is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. The head and back are mottled brown and the underparts whitish, with vertical bars on the chest and throat. The eyes are dark and the head is round and they do not have ear tufts. They are territorial and found in dry forests and jungles at altitudes of up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level.
Taxonomy

The mottled owl was described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1849 and given the binomial name Syrnium virgatum.[3][4] In 1999, Wink and Heidrich transferred it to the genus Strix, but this is still contested by some authorities.[5]
Description
Chan Chich Lodge area - Belize

The mottled owl is a medium-sized owl with adults reaching 280 to 355 mm (11 to 14 in) in length. Females are considerably larger than males; the mottled owl shows the greatest degree of sexual dimorphism of any species of owl.[6] The crown, nape and back are mottled in several shades of darkish brown, the facial disc is pale brown and the throat, breast and belly are off-white with distinctive vertical brown streaks. The large eyes are brown, the beak is greyish-yellow or greyish-blue, and the legs and feet are greyish-yellow. There is a darker form of the bird with a buff breast and belly. Mottled owls produce a range of calls which include a hoot used in maintaining territory boundaries, and various whistles, screeches and hisses.[6][7]
Distribution and habitat

The mottled owl is native to Central and South America. Its range extends from Mexico south to Argentina and Brazil and it is found at elevations up to about 2,500 m (8,200 ft). It inhabits a variety of wooded habitats including rainforest, woodland verges, dry thorn forest, pine/oak woodland and plantations and also open countryside with scattered trees. In some parts of its range it is common and it is often found close to human habitations.[6] In 1983, a specimen was retrieved on the American side of the Rio Grande, thus establishing a first record for the United States. Forty years later, a mottled owl was photographed in Starr County, Texas, and there is also a 2006 record from the same state.[8][9]
Behaviour

The mottled owl is nocturnal and spends the day in dense vegetation where it may be mobbed by other birds. Its large eyes are adapted for sight at low levels of light, and its hearing is also acute. It is a predator and at night often perches on a branch beside a glade or at the edge of woodland on the lookout for prey. When it detects a small moving object, it swoops down from its perch on silent wings and pounces on its target, which may be a small mammal, a bird, reptile or amphibian or a large beetle, grasshopper or other insect/arthropod.[6][10] It is known to prey on bats.[11]

The mottled owl breeds between February and May in Colombia and in September to November in Argentina. It usually nests in a hole in a tree but may also choose an empty nest built by another species. One or usually two white eggs are laid and incubated by the female and both parents care for the young.[7]
Status

The mottled owl has a very wide range and the number of individual birds has been estimated to be somewhere between five hundred thousand and five million. It is listed by the IUCN as being of "Least Concern" on the basis that, though its numbers may be decreasing slightly, they are not doing so at such a rate as would justify putting the bird in a more vulnerable category.[1]
References

BirdLife International (2022). "Ciccaba virgata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22689122A167859687. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
Cassin, John (1849). "Species of owls, presumed to be undescribed, 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: 121–125 [124]. 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. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 154.
Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Cadena, C.D.; Jaramillo, A.; Nores, M.; Pacheco, J.F.; Pérez-Emán, J.; Robbins, M.B.; Stiles, F.G.; Stotz, D.F.; Zimmer, K.J. "A classification of the bird species of South America". Version: 23 July 2014. South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union.
Fetter, Jess (2004). "Strix virgata: Mottled Owl". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
König, Claus; Becking, Jan-Hendrik (2009). Owls of the World. A. C. Black. pp. 366–368. ISBN 9781408108840.
"Checklist - 21 Nov 2023 - Santa Margarita Ranch (LTC 079)". eBird. 21 November 2023.
"Rare Bird Alert: December 1, 2023". aba American Birding Association. 1 December 2023.
Proudfoot, Glenn (2011). Claus König; Friedhelm Weick (eds.). Owls of the World (2nd ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Brown, Tom W. (June 2020). "A bat (Chiroptera) as prey of the Mottled Owl Ciccaba virgata in Belize". Cotinga. 42: 58–60.