How many species of owl have you seen (1 Viewer)

Fairly short list:

Barn owl (Belgium / france / spain / canada)
Long eared owl (Belgium / netherlands)
short eared owl (Belgium / netherlands)
eagle owl (Belgium / spain)
little owl (Belgium / france / spain)
Tawny Owl (Belgium)
African Eagle Owl (Tanzania)
Great Horned Owl (Canada / Arizona)
Flamulated Owl (Canada)
Barred Owl (Canada)
Whiskered Screech Owl (Arizona)
Elf Owl (Arizona)
Burrowing Owl (Arizona)

13 species so far.

None, Larry-- Clements 5th has Northern Boobook as a subspecies of Brown Hawk-Owl (note the hyphen), so my record was not on a 'big line' and I didn't count it for you before.


(And, hey! This is a good thread to ask if anyone has an MP3 of Buffy Fish-Owl or Spotted Owlet...just in case you missed my whining elsewhere.)

Hi Larry,

Hawk-Owls are also known as Boobooks this is due to the fact that some people prefer to use boobook as opposed to Hawk-Owl as these species look nothing like a hawk, so why call them that?! Many of the vocalisations of boobooks refer to the name boobook. The Brown Hawk-Owl complex has been studied recently and a paper has been produced by among others, King, B, which I tend to follow. Brown Hawk-Owl is best treated as at least 3 species in my opinion due to the differences in vocalisations, Chocolate Boobook (parts of Philippines (Mindanao) and Talaud Island, Indonesia), Northern Boobook (a migratory species, breeding from the Calayan Island off Philippines, northwards through Japan, wintering as far south as Indonesia) and Brown Boobook (India eastwards).

Still plenty of research and splitting required among many owl species, especially in the otus and ninox families

Managed to recall 33 species (although not entirely sure what the last species is - at San Isidro in Ecuador)...

Tawny Owl
Little Owl
Short-eared Owl
Barn Owl
Long-eared Owl
Snowy Owl
Eurasian Scops Owl
Burrowing Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Mountain Pygmy Owl
Whiskered Screech Owl
Western Screech Owl
Elf Owl
Flammulated Owl
Spotted Owlet
Jungle Owlet
Brown Wood Owl
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Spectacled Owl
Black and White Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Pacific Screech Owl
Oriental Scops Owl
Brown Hawk Owl
African Wood Owl
Spotted Eagle Owl
Verreaux's Eagle Owl
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Eurasian Pygmy Owl
Tropical Screech Owl
Tawny-bellied Screech Owl
'San Isidro Mystery Owl'

UK

Barn
Tawny
Little
Long-eared
Short-eared
Scops
Snowy

Canada

Great Grey

South Africa

Spotted Eagle Owl

Costa Rica

Ferruginous Pygmy
Bare-shanked Screech
Black & White
Spectacled

India

Spotted Owlet

Brazil

Burrowing

Nothing quite like finding day roosting nocturnal birds (never been spotlighting - something to look forward to!), wonder what the next one'll be...?

James

Have any Forum members besides Mr. Harper seen the Blakiston's Fish-Owl, Ketupa blakistoni?

Charles, that would be a good one to get into our Photo Gallery! Did you happen to get any photos of that one?

James, thank you for your information given above. I was checking in my Clements, "Birds of the World" checklist (4th ed.). He gives 13 Hawk-Owls, 1 Hawk Owl and 2 Boobooks (Southern Boobook and Sumba Boobook). Perhaps some of these names have changed in more recent editions of his checklist.

It looks like you might be a "resident owl expert"! You really have quite an impressive listing of the species you have seen. Are owls your main bird interest?

Hi Larry,

Owls are up there as one of my main interests, great feeling walking through the forest at night, listening for the owls among the variety of insect and frog vocalisations. Locating a call bird or calling one in, spotlighting the bird for the first time, then rushing to get the camera out before it flies off!

Unfortunately I've still missed a few, hearing some owls that refuse to come closer, or the forest is just too thick to reach the bird, or is just simply on the other side of a river!
Also look at some of the other bizarre owl like nocturnal birds, such as frogmouths -
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/s...result&Bird_ID=592&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/s...result&Bird_ID=592&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1

And even more bizarre looking owlet-nightjars!
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=574

USA:

Barn Owl
Snowy Owl
Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
Eastern Screech-Owl
Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Burrowing Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Brazil:

Barn Owl
Mottled Owl
Tropical Screech-Owl
Stygian Owl
Short-eared Owl
Burrowing Owl

Total # species: 13


Dalcio

i've seen three (barn, tawny, little) heard 4 (SEO)

Perhaps my favourite group of birds (bar pittas maybe..?), certainly a fair number of these in my 'best ever bird' list.....
Still plenty to go and envious of some of the posts on this thread, particularly Blakiston's Fish Owl and Northern Hawk Owl - the latter well up there in in my most wanted birds....
List follows, most seen in Asia -

Barn Owl
Eastern Grass Owl
Sulawesi Masked Owl
Bay Owl (the best...?)
Reddish Scops Owl
White-fronted Scops Owl
Mountain Scops Owl
Javan Scops Owl
Mindanao Scops Owl
Luzon Scops Owl
Mindoro Scops Owl
Flores Scops Owl
Common Scops Owl
Oriental Scops Owl (probably 2 sp. on vocalisations but i've only seen the one in China)
Elegant Scops Owl (2 species..?)
Mantanani Scops Owl
Moluccan Scops Owl
Sangihe Scops Owl
Sulawesi Scops Owl
Rajah Scops Owl
Sunda Scops Owl
Collared Scops Owl
Philippine Scops Owl
Palawan Scops Owl
Wallace’s Scops Owl
Giant Scops Owl
Great Horned Owl
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Pharaoh Eagle Owl
Barred Eagle Owl
Spot-bellied Eagle Owl
Buffy Fish Owl
Brown Fish Owl
Snowy Owl
Spotted Wood Owl
Sichuan Wood Owl
Tawny Owl
Chinese Tawny Owl
Hume’s Owl
Brown Wood Owl
Bartels’ Wood Owl
Collared Owlet
Jungle Owlet
Asian Barred Owlet
Javan Owlet
Little Owl
Spotted Owlet
Sumba Boobook (brilliant)
Little Sumba Boobook
Southern Boobook
Brown Boobook
Northern Boobook
Chocolate Boobook
Philippine Boobook (again probably 4? sp., i've only seen one)
Mindoro Boobook
Ochre-bellied Boobook
Speckled Boobook
Moluccan Boobook
Cinnabar Boobook
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl

Also 6+ species of Frogmouth - Ceylon, Goulds, Javan (at least 2 sp...?), Palawan, Sunda Pale-headed & Large plus Moluccan Owlet Nightjar

never been out of the UK, so my list is for england only, although they are all wild birds.


tawny owl
barn owl
little owl
short eared owl
long eared owl
eagle owl

Thanks for starting this thread, Larry. I took a quick look at what has been posted, then went to the dentist. Kept my mind off the drill by picturing in my mind all the owls I had seen. Most of their faces remain very vivid.

Below is the list with the location of the lifer:

Barn Owl on a courthouse parapet eating a mouse, CA
African Grass-Owl South Africa
African Scops-Owl South africa (a ventriloquil fellow that took a long time to locate)
Western Screech-Owl Ramsey Canyon, AZ
Eastern Screech-Owl TX
Pacific Screech-Owl Costa Rica just this October!
Whiskered Screech-Owl Ramsey Canyon, AZ
Great Horned Owl MO
Spotted Eagle-Owl South Africa
Snowy Owl MO
Northern Hawk Owl MN
Pearl-Spotted Owlet Kruger Park, SA
Northern Pygmy-Owl AZ
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Costa Rica
Elf Owl shared by many other birders in Bentsen Rio Grande SP, TX
Burrowing Owl SD (enjoyed sharing the MO one this year with you, Larry)
Black and White Owl Costa Rica
Spotted Owl yup, the Sheelite Canyon ones that are the lifers of most birders
Barred Owl AR--not sure how it happened to be AR instead of MO
Great Gray Owl MN
Long-eared Owl MO
Shorte-eared Owl MO
Marsh Owl South Africa
Jamaican Owl Jamaica--on a short poled raft trip--sitting over the river
Boreal Owl AK--still looking for that lower 48 bird--brrrr, Duluth in January again
Northern Saw-whet Owl--#600 U.S. bird, celebrated with many friends

Heard only:
Flammulated Owl--several in 3 states
Spectacled Owl--ARRRRGH! Heard it outside room in Costa Rica at 4 a.m., didn't know what it was. It didn't come back the next night.

Well, Phalarope, at least you "got the Boreal Owl" (aka. Tengmalm's Owl), albeit it was in Alaska.

Steve and I were "a day late (or early) and a dollar short" when we went up to Duluth in January this year!

Owls are my absolute favorite bird group, as soon as Iam birding I try to record as many species as possibly:

1.Greater sooty-owl Tyto tenebricosa: Australia.

2.Australian masked owl Tyto novaehollandiae: Australia.

3.Common barn owl Tyto alba alba: Sweden.

4.Tyto albo stertens: India.

5.Tyto albo javanica: Malaysia peninsula.

6. Tyto albo delicatula: Australia.

7.African grass-owl Tyto capensis: South Africa and Tanzania.

8.Eastern grass-owl Tyto longimembris: India.

9.Oriental bay-owl Phodilus badius: Malaysia peninsula.

10.White-faced scops-owl Otus sagittatus: Malaysia peninsula.

11.Reddish scops-owl Otus rufescens: Malaysia peninsula.

12.Mountain scops-owl Otus spilocephalus: India and Malaysia peninsula.

13.Rajah scops-owl Otus brookii: Sumatra.

14.Collared scops-owl Otus lettia: India.

15.Sunda scops-owl Otus lempiji: Malaysia peninsula.

16.African scops-owl Otus senegalensis: Tanzania.

17.Eurasian scops-owl Otus scops: Spain.

18.Oriental scops-owl Otus sunia: India.

19.Sangihe scops-owl Otus collari: Sangihe.

20.Tropical screech-owl Otus choliba: Brazil.

21.Tawny-bellied screech-owl Otus watsonii: Brazil.

22.Southern white-faced owl Ptilopsis granti: Tanzania.

23.Eurasian eagle-owl Bubo bubo: Sweden and Spain.

24.Rock eagle-owl Bubo bengalensis: India.

25.Spotted eagle-owl Bubo africanus: Tanzania.

26. Forest eagle-owl Bubo nipalensis: India.

27.Barred eagle-owl Bubo Sumatranus: Malaysia, Borneo.

28.Verreaux eagle-owl Bubo lacteus: Tanzania.

29.Dusky eagle-owl Bubo coromandus: India.

30.Brown fish-owl Ketupa zeylonensis: India.

31.Tawny fish-owl Ketupa flavipes: India.

32.Buffy fish-owl Ketupa ketupa: Malaysia peninsula.

33.Snowy owl Nyctea scandiaca: Sweden.

34.Spotted wood-owl Strix seloputo: Malaysia peninsula.

35. Brown wood-owl Strix leptogrammica: India, Malaysia peninsula and Sumatra.

36.Tawny owl Strix aluco: Sweden and India.

37.Ural owl Strix uralensis: Sweden.

38.Great grey owl Strix nebulosa: Sweden.

39.African wood-owl Strix woodfordii: South Africa.

40.Mottled owl Strix virgata: Brazil.

41. Black-banded owl Strix huhula: Brazil.

42.Crested owl Lophostrix cristata: Brazil.

43.Spectacled owl Pulsatrix perspicillata: Brazil.

44.Northern hawk-owl Surnia ulula: Sweden.

45.Eurasian pygmy-owl Glaucidium passerinum: Sweden.

46.Collared owlet Glaucidium brodiei: India.

47.Pearl-spotted owl Glaucidium perlatum: Tanzania.

48.Amazonian pygmy-owl Glaucidium hardyi: Brazil.

49.Ferruginous pygmy-owl Glaucidium brasilianum: Brazil.

50.Asian barred owlet Glaucidium cuculoides: India.

51.Little owl Athene noctua: Spain.

52.Spotted owlet Athene brama: India.

53.Boreal owl Aegolius funereus: Sweden.

54.Barking owl Ninox connivens: Australia.

55.Southern boobook Ninox boobook: Australia.

56.Brown hawk-owl Ninox scutulata: Sangihe.

57.Northern long-eared owl Asio otus: Sweden.

58.Short-eared owl Asio flammeus: Spain.

59.Marsh owl Asio capensis: Tanzania and South Africa.

These are the species I have observed the last 20 years, I hopping to make reach 60 on my trip on Sangihe, I hopping to see the Sulawesi owl Tyto rosenbergii here. Will probably visit the Philippine islands, Mexico and Venezuela next year to try to check of a few more species.

Wow! Some of these posts sort of put my 14 species into perspective. I have something to aim for though!!!!!!!!!!!

brianfm said:

Wow! Some of these posts sort of put my 14 species into perspective. I have something to aim for though!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

I have 14 too, and I thought I was doing well!

Barn Owl UK,Grenada, Mali
Common Scops-Owl Mali
Great Horned Owl Argentina
Eurasian Eagle-Owl Tibet
Buffy Fish-Owl Borneo
Tawny Owl UK
Hume's Owl Egypt/Jordan
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Ecuador
Asian Barred Owlet Nepal
Little Owl UK
Spotted Owlet India, Nepal
Brown Hawk-Owl Japan
Long-eared Owl UK
Short-eared Owl UK, Bolivia/Peru

Owls I have seen

Everybody on this board has seen more owls than me. I only have the great gray owl on my list. The good thing was I spent about an hour watching him within about 20'. He started out in the trees and moved down to my vehicle. It was last winter when there were a lot of owls down from Canada. The only problem I had was that I didn't have my camera.

GDC

You people have some crazy owl lists. Here's my wee list, all in Canada.

Saw whet owl
Snowy owl
Great gray owl
Barred owl
Great-horned owl
Long-eared owl

Almost certain I heard a screech owl once, but have never still never seen one. I'm really going to have to do something about that.

Scott