Long-tufted Screech Owl

The long-tufted screech owl (Megascops sanctaecatarinae) is a species of "typical owl" in the subfamily Striginae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. == Taxonomy and systematics == The long-tufted screech owl has had a tortuous taxonomic history. What is currently (2022) accepted as the species' original description was by Osbert Salvin in 1897; he assigned it the binomial Scops sanctae-catarinae. Genus Scops was lumped into Otus in the early 20th century but in the early 21st century the current Megascops was adopted for what are now 23 species of screech owls. The long-tufted screech owl was at different times treated as a subspecies or a synonym of what is now the black-capped screech owl (Megascops atricapilla). Other authors considered it, the Yungas screech owl (M. hoyi), and what is now the Middle American screech owl (M. guatemalae) all to be conspecific with M. atricapilla. Since then, morphological, vocal, and genetic analyses have determined that they are not only separate species but also not closely related to each other. Other complications arise because the several populations of genus Megascops found in southern Brazil and Argentina's Misiones Province have not been studied enough to be certain that they are correctly…