From Opus

Photo by Stanley Jones
Los Tarrales Reserve, south of San Luca Taliman, Guatemala, April 2010

Strix virgata

Ciccaba virgata

[edit] Identification

• Vertical bars on chest and throat
• White markings in the back
• Dark eyes
• Round head
  

The sexes are dimorphic

[edit] Distribution

Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Accidental vagrant to Texas (1 specimen record).

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Ciccaba vs. Strix

Some authorities (Sibley & Monroe, 1996; IOC 1.6, 2008) retain Mottled Owl (virgata), Black-and-white Owl (nigrolineata), Black-banded Owl (huhula), and Rufous-banded Owl (albitarsis) in the genus Strix. König et al. state that the general morphology and phylogenetic evidence of these four species does not indicate separation from the rest of Strix, and Restall goes on to explain that they were originally separated into the genus Ciccaba based on anatomy of the external ear. While Clements (2007) and Howard & Moore (2003) do recognize Black-and-white Owl and Black-banded Owl as being in Ciccaba, Howard & Moore deviate from Clements and retain Mottled Owl and Rufous-banded Owl in Strix alongside aforementioned authorities. The Opus awaits further clarification.

[edit] Subspecies

Seven subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• S. v. squamulata:

• Western Mexico (Sonora to Guerrero, Guanajuato and Morelos)

• S. v. tamaulipensis:

• North-eastern Mexico (southern Nuevo León and Tamaulipas)

• S. v. centralis:

• South-eastern Mexico (Oaxaca and Veracruz) to western Panama

• S. v. virgata:

• Eastern Panama to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador; Trinidad

• S. v. macconnelli:

• Northern South America (the Guianas)

• S. v. superciliaris:

• North-central and north-eastern Amazonian Brazil

• S. v. borelliana:

• Estern Paraguay to south-eastern Brazil and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones)

[edit] Habitat

Bamboo glade: Riparian foothills of Atitlan Volcano; secondary cloud forest with coffee and ornamentals with scattered dense bamboo glades at ca. 1000 m elevation.

[edit] Behaviour

They are territorial.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links