Scops owl
genus of birds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scops owls are owls in the family Strigidae. Scops owls are the genus Otus. They live in the Old World. Otus has more species in it than any other genus of owls. There are 59 species of scops owls. Scops owls are brown, grayish, or reddish in color, but they can have lighter colors on the belly or face. This helps to make them hard to see when they sit in trees. Sometimes, owls in the same spcies look different from each other. Scops owls are small and move easily. Female scops owls are usually larger than males in the same species.
Scops owls | |
---|---|
Eurasian scops owls, Otus scops | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Strigiformes |
Family: | Strigidae |
Genus: | Otus Pennant, 1769 |
Type species | |
Otus bakkamoena Pennant, 1769 | |
Synonyms | |
Scops Savigny, 1809 |
For a long time, scientists thought screech owls were scops owls too. Now, scientists think that they are two different groups of owls.