Cloud Forest Screech Owl

Cloud Forest Screech Owl, The Cloud Forest Screech Owl is a rare South American owl. "Scientific name for the Cloud Forest Screech Owl is Megascops marshalli". The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species is named for the modern ornithologist Joe T. Marshall. The species was discovered by Weske and Terborgh in 1981. The Cloud Forest Screech Owl is a member of the strigidae family, strigiformes order.

Physical Description of Cloud Forest Screech Owl

The Cloud Forest Screech Owl has unusual dark red irides. (Many owls have yellow eyes.) Cloud Forest Screech Owls have a dark red and reddish brown facial disk. A rim of black feathers surrounds the facial disk. Cloud Forest Screech Owls have faint white eyebrows. Cloud Forest Screech Owls have a brown-red tinted nuchal collar. Cloud Forest Screech Owls have a yellow-grey bill. The Cloud Forest Screech Owl has reddish brown and white chest feathers. The wings are brown and dark grown. The tail feathers are dark brown with black banding. Cloud Forest Screech Owls have very small ear tufts, and the ear tufts have white feathers with dark-red and black tips. Cloud Forest Screech Owls have rust colored feathered tarsi but naked toes.
Males and females have similar coloring but the females are not as dark and bold as the males.
The Cloud Forest Screech Owls weigh around four ounces. Cloud Forest Screech Owls are eight to nine inches tall. Like many other screech owls, the females are a little larger than the males. Their wings are around six inches long.

Behavior of Cloud Forest Screech Owl

The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species does not migrate within its range. Some other species of birds in its area migrate up and down the slopes of the Andes to follow the flowering of plants and abundance of prey. Breeding season for the Cloud Forest Screech Owl species is in June until mid-August. Not much else is known about their behavior, but they are assumed to reach maturity at one year of age like their relatives. We don’t know how many eggs they lay per brood or how many broods they lay per year.
The song of the Cloud Forest Screech Owl is similar to the Megascops petersoni or cinnamon screech owl. This Cloud Forest Screech Owl probably climbs and weaves through the forest instead of flying in the open. The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species primarily eats insects, a fact learned by the study of their “pellets” or waste.
The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species produces songs full of hoots and short high pitched trills.

Habitat of Cloud Forest Screech Owl

The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species is found in the subtropical and moist mountain forests (cloud forests) in Bolivia and Peru. The Cloud Forest Screech Owl prefers pristine montane forest with a dense understory. Their habitat is covered by moss and other epiphytes.
The Cloud Forest Screech Owl has been found in forests up to 7,500 feet but is most abundant in forests up to 1,500 feet.

Range of Cloud Forest Screech Owl

The original range of the Cloud Forest Screech Owl species was on the eastern side of the Andes from Peru to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Cloud Forest Screech Owl species is now found in six small areas along the eastern side of the Andes. There are now four distinct subpopulations, such as the ones in Cordillera Yanachaga, northwest Cusco Peru, and two more.
The biggest threat to this Cloud Forest Screech Owl species’ survival is its small range and the loss of its fragmented habitat. It is classified as near-threatened by the IUCN. Its range does include Madidi National Park in La Paz, Bolivia. Cordillera Vilcabamba in Peru is the largest portion of intact montane forest in its range.

Trivia about Cloud Forest Screech Owl

It was originally discovered in southern Peru but later found in western Bolivia.