Choco Screech Owl
Photo © Anthony Batista
Photo © Anthony Batista — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist #204329839The Chocó screech owl (Megascops centralis) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found from central Panama to western Ecuador. == Taxonomy and systematics == The Chocó screech owl's taxonomy has undergone numerous changes. It has variously been treated as embedded in or a subspecies of the original Otus guatemalae and then as a subspecies of O. vermiculatus when that was split from O. guatemalae. In the early 2000s, all of the New World members of Otus were assigned to Megascops. As of 2019, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), the North and South American Classification Committees of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), and the Clements taxonomy treat it as a separate species, Megascops centralis. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treats it as being embedded within M. vermiculatus vermiculatus, the nominate subspecies of vermiculated screech owl. The Chocó screech owl is monotypic. == Description == The Chocó screech owl is 20.5 to 27 cm (8.1 to 10.6 in) long; two specimens weighed 106.7 and 121.5 g (3.76 and 4.29 oz). It has gray and rufous color morphs and many individuals' plumages are intermediate between the extremes. The gray morph has a grayish…
Corcovado National Park
Puerto Jiménez, Costa Rica
+444 birds+48 mammals
Where the Osa Peninsula juts into the Pacific, rainforest descends almost to the tide line, and Corcovado National Park protects one of Central America's most intact…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPiedras Blancas National Park
Golfito, Costa Rica
+386 birds+24 mammals
Where the Golfo Dulce meets the southwestern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Piedras Blancas National Park protects a dramatic transition zone where lowland rainforest descends toward…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNatural Farallones de Cali National Park
Buenaventura, Colombia
+733 birds+27 mammals
Where the Pacific coastal plain meets the western slopes of the Andes, Farallones de Cali National Park sprawls across nearly 3,500 square kilometers of dramatic topography…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGeneral de División Omar Torrijos Herrera National Park
La Pintada, Panama
+401 birds+2 mammals
Across the highlands of central Panama, where the continental divide funnels moisture-laden trade winds into steep river valleys, the terrain rises and falls in a landscape…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSoberanía National Park
Cristóbal, Panama
+495 birds+34 mammals
Rainforest and riverine woodland blanket the rolling terrain of this 714-square-kilometre national park in Colón Province, where the Caribbean watershed feeds a maze of streams and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChagres National Park
Caimitillo, Panama
+486 birds+19 mammals
Where the Chagres River carves through the humid tropics of central Panama, a vast montane and lowland forest sprawls across more than 2,300 square kilometers, anchoring…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDarién National Park
Tucutí, Panama
+534 birds+13 mammals
Where the spine of Central America crumbles into wetland and rainforest, Darién National Park sprawls across more than 20,000 square kilometres of some of the tropics'…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.