Mountain scops owl

The mountain scops owl (Otus spilocephalus), sometimes referred to as the spotted scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Its range extends across the Himalayas, southern China, Indochina and mountains of western Malesia.^[1] Bhutan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Mountain scops owl
The nominate subspecies O. s. spilocephalus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II [2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Otus
Species:	O. spilocephalus
Binomial name
Otus spilocephalus (Blyth, 1846)
Synonyms
Otus stresemanni

The nominate subspecies of the eastern Himalayas has a distinct more russet plumage.

It is an altitudinal migrant.^[3]

It has a short high-pitched call. Their call sounds like a two-note whistle, "plew-plew" or "he-he", although the female's songs are rarely heard. Their calls can also vary between different populations allowing one to determine a bird's origin.

A juvenile mountain scops owl photographed at Sattal, India