Striped Owl

The striped owl (Asio clamator) is a medium-sized owl with large ear tufts and a brownish-white facial disk rimmed with black. Its beak is black, and it has cinnamon-colored eyes. It has shorter, rounder wings than most of its close relatives. The upperparts are cinnamon with fine black vermiculation and heavy stripes. The underparts are pale tawny with dusky streaks. It is native to South America and parts of Central America. == Taxonomy == The striped owl was formally described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808 under the binomial name Bubo clamator. The specific epithet clamator is Latin meaning "shouter". The type locality is Cayenne in French Guiana. The striped owl was at one time placed in its own genus Rhinoptynx and was then transferred to the genus Pseudoscops. A molecular study that compared mitochondrial DNA sequences indicated that it should be placed in the genus Asio. This result was confirmed by a large molecular phylogenetic study of the owls published in 2019. == Description == The striped owl is a relatively large species with prominent tufts of elongated feathers on the crown resembling ears. It is 30–38 cm (12–15 in) long and weighs from 320 to…