Binomial name Megascops guatemalae
(Sharpe, 1875) Synonyms

Scops brasilianus

The Vermiculated Screech-owl, Megascops guatemalae, is an owl of the Strigidae family.

Description

Alike to most screech-owls, the Vermiculated Screech-owl is nocturnal. It is similar to North American Screech-owls in size and appearance. The length of the bird is 8 1/2" (21 1/2cm), approximately the size of a Red-winged Blackbird. It is dark-brown in colour (rufous morphs may also eventualize), yellow eyes, a grey to greenish yellow bill, and palpable white eyebrows.

Habitat and behaviour

Habitat

The range of the Vermiculated Screech-owl proliferates from southern Sonora to Oaxaca, Mexico in the west, in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and south to northern Nicaragua and it dwells at low to medium elevation (from sea level to 4500ft (1370m). Its habitat can be from evergreen forests with low annual precipitation to humid lowlands.

Behaviour

The Vermiculated Screech-owl's call is a series of mercurial notes (trill) that last 3-15 seconds. The call starts off with a low pitch that promptly increases in pitch and then suddenly ends. The call also tends to waver up and down with the trill.

The bird usually nests in March and April and contains 2-5 eggs. Its diet consists of large insects, lizards, frogs, and sometimes small mammals.

External links

• The call of the Vermiculated Screech-owl