Scops owl

**Scops owls** are in the family Strigidae. They are the genus ***Otus***. Scops owls live in the Old World. _Otus_ has more species in it than any other genus of owls. There are 59 species. 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 species look different from each other. Scops owls are small and move easily.  Female scops owls are usually larger than males in the same species.

## Taxonomy

The genus _Otus_ was first used in 1769. The Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant made it for the Indian scops owl (_O. bakkamoena_). The name comes from the Latin word __ and the Greek word  _ōtos_ meaning horned or eared owl (cf. οὖς,  ὠτός, "ear").  Marie Jules César Savigny made the English name "Scops" in 1809. and it comes from the Greek  _skōps_ meaning small owl.

### History

Scientists have changed their minds over the years about which owls should be in _Otus_ and which owls are only their relatives.  For most of the 20th century, scientists said screech owls were also scops owls.  But they changed their minds.  DNA evidence helped them decide

Now, screech owls are in their own genus, _Megascops_.  Screech owls live in the Americas, and they act differently, live in different places, have different body shapes, and have different DNA from scops owls.

By the mid-19th century, scientists knew that _Otus_ had more than one genus in it. First, in 1848, scientists made a second genus for screech owls, _Megascops_. In 1850s, they made other genera for other owls that had been in _Otus_.  They made _Macabra_, _Ptilopsis_, _Gymnasio_, _Gymnoglaux_, and _Pyrroglaux_ for different groups of owls.

In the early 20th century, scientists liked the idea of putting species in a few big groups instead of more small groups. The 3rd edition of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) checklist in 1910 put the screech owls back in _Otus_. Although not all scientists agreed about this, it was the most common way to think about owl groups for most of the 20th century. In 1988, some scientists tried to put back all the genera from 140 years earlier by treating them as subgenuses inside _Otus_. But this did not make sense.  It did not match the evolutionary and phylogenetic information.

In the late 20th century, scientists started to use DNA to tell how animals were related to each other. This changed things for _Otus_. In 1999, the first mtDNA cytochrome _b_ study of these owls showed that the separate groups were really different genera and not only subgenera.  The scientists said that most of the genera proposed around 1850 were right or close to right. Not all scientists agreed at first, but they did more and more DNA studies.  In time, almost all scientists came to trust the DNA studies. In 2003, the AOU formally decided to take screech owls out of _Otus_ and put them in the genus _Megascops_.

### Species

The genus _Otus_ has 59 species (including 3 extinct species):

- Giant scops owl, _Otus gurneyi_
- White-fronted scops owl, _Otus sagittatus_
- Reddish scops owl, _Otus rufescens_
- Serendib scops owl, _Otus thilohoffmanni_
- Sandy scops owl, _Otus icterorhynchus_
- Sokoke scops owl, _Otus ireneae_
- Andaman scops owl, _Otus balli_
- Flores scops owl, _Otus alfredi_
- Mountain scops owl, _Otus spilocephalus_
- Javan scops owl, _Otus angelinae_
- Mindanao scops owl, _Otus mirus_
- Luzon scops owl, _Otus longicornis_
- Mindoro scops owl, _Otus mindorensis_
- São Tomé scops owl, _Otus hartlaubi_
- Torotoroka scops owl, _Otus madagascariensis_ – formerly included in _O. rutilus_
- Rainforest scops owl, _Otus rutilus_
- Mayotte scops owl, _Otus mayottensis_ – formerly included in _O. rutilus_
- Karthala scops owl, _Otus pauliani_
- Anjouan scops owl, _Otus capnodes_
- Moheli scops owl, _Otus moheliensis_
- † Réunion scops owl, _Otus grucheti_ – extinct, formerly placed in the genus _Mascarenotus_
- † Mauritius scops owl, _Otus sauzieri_ – extinct, formerly placed in the genus _Mascarenotus_
- † Rodrigues scops owl, _Otus murivorus_ – extinct, formerly placed in the genus _Mascarenotus_
- Pemba scops owl, _Otus pembaensis_
- Eurasian scops owl, _Otus scops_
- Cyprus scops owl, _Otus cyprius_ – formerly included in _O. scops_
- Pallid scops owl, _Otus brucei_
- Arabian scops owl, _Otus pamelae_
- African scops owl, _Otus senegalensis_
- Annobón scops owl, _Otus feae_ – formerly included in _O. senegalensis_
- Socotra scops owl, _Otus socotranus_
- Oriental scops owl, _Otus sunia_
- Ryūkyū scops owl, _Otus elegans_
- Moluccan scops owl, _Otus magicus_
- Wetar scops owl, _Otus tempestatis_
- Sula scops owl, _Otus sulaensis_
- Biak scops owl, _Otus beccarii_
- Sulawesi scops owl, _Otus manadensis_
- Banggai scops owl, _Otus mendeni_
- Siau scops owl, _Otus siaoensis_
- Sangihe scops owl, _Otus collari_
- Mantanani scops owl, _Otus mantananensis_
- Seychelles scops owl, _Otus insularis_
- Nicobar scops owl, _Otus alius_
- Simeulue scops owl, _Otus umbra_
- Enggano scops owl, _Otus enganensis_
- Mentawai scops owl, _Otus mentawi_
- Rajah scops owl, _Otus brookii_
- Indian scops owl, _Otus bakkamoena_
- Collared scops owl, _Otus lettia_ – formerly included in _O. bakkamoena_
- Japanese scops owl, _Otus semitorques_ – formerly included in _O. bakkamoena_
- Sunda scops owl, _Otus lempiji_ – formerly included in _O. bakkamoena_
- Philippine scops owl, _Otus megalotis_
- Negros scops owl, _Otus nigrorum_ – formerly included in _O. megalotis_
- Everett's scops owl, _Otus everetti_ – formerly included in _O. megalotis_
- Palawan scops owl, _Otus fuliginosus_
- Wallace's scops owl, _Otus silvicola_
- Rinjani scops owl, _Otus jolandae'
- Palau scops owl, _Otus podarginus_ – formerly placed in the monotypic genus _Pyrroglaux_
- Principe scops owl, _Otus bikegila_
Two extinct species are sometimes placed in the genus:
- † Madeiran scops owl, _Otus mauli_ (extinct, c. 15th century)
- † São Miguel scops owl, _Otus frutuosoi_ (extinct, c. 15th century)

### Possible species

On May 14, 1994, scientists heard what sounded like an _Otus_ owl calling at about 1,000 meters above sea level south of the summit of Camiguin in the Philippines. No scientists had found any scops owls on that island before. Sometimes people discover new species of _Otus_. There may be another _Otus_ owl living on the island.

### Formerly placed here

The fossil record for scops owls does not tell us everything. Some older writings say many species of _Otus_ owls are now extinct, but maybe those owls really belong in different genera:
- _"Otus" henrici_ was a barn owl of the genus _Selenornis_
- _"Otus" providentiae_ was a burrowing owl, probably a paleosubspecies
- _"Otus" wintershofensis_ may be close to extant genus _Ninox_ and some material assigned to it belongs into _Intutula_
- _"Scops" commersoni_ is a junior synonym of the recently extinct Mauritius owl. Scientists looked at pictures and descriptions that talk about ear tufts; and the subfossil material of this species had been erroneously assigned to tuftless owls.

## Evolution

People found scops owl fossils that look like the Eurasian scops-owl on the Spanish island Majorca. The scops and screech owls probably both evolved during the Miocene (like many owls). They probably became separate groups 5 million years ago. Their common ancestor was probably a small owl with ear tufts and feathers on at least the upper tarsus (leg).

## Ecology and behaviour

Scops owls voices sound like whistling or a row of high-pitched hoots, fewer than four hoots per second. The owls call like this for social interaction or to scare away other animals.  But different species of scops owls sound different from each other.  Human beings usually know scops owls are nearby because they hear them calling.  Human beings can tell scops owl species apart by their voices. Some, like the Serendib scops owl (_Otus thilohoffmanni''), were discovered because birdcall experts could tell their voices were new to them.

Scops owls hunt from perches in landscapes with only a few trees. They live more in areas with old trees with hollows in them.  The animals they like to eat live in hollows. For example, insects, reptiles, and small mammals such as bats and mice and other small birds. The owls will also eat earthworms, amphibians, and aquatic animals without bones. Scops owls can hear very well, which helps them find animals to eat. They also have strong claws and a curved bill, both of which help them tear prey into small pieces that they can eat.

Most scops owls live alone, lay and sit on their eggs in a nest in a hole in a tree.  They do not dig the holes themselves. Instead, they go into holes that have been made by other animals. The female sits on the eggs and the male brings her food.  These birds are monogamous, and both parents take care of the chicks.