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Eurasian Scops Owl

Eurasian Scops Owl

Otus scops

Identify the Eurasian Scops Owl by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Scops Owl is a small, ear-tufted owl with grey-brown, bark-like camouflage and long, narrow wings. It breeds from southern Europe across western and central Asia and winters mainly in Africa south of the Sahara, though some birds stay year-round around the Mediterranean. Active after dark, it is usually detected by its mellow, monotonous whistled call.

Did you know?

  • Its whistle closely resembles the call of midwife toads, causing night-time mix-ups.
  • Both Otus and scops refer to “eared owls”.

Voice

Song

About the species

Identification

A small owl with short ear tufts, grey-brown mottled plumage and a face paler than the body. The wings are fairly long; length about 19–21 cm, wingspan 47–54 cm. It looks slim and well adapted to migration. Its call, a single short whistle repeated steadily, is the best clue.

Family

Strigidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

grey, brown, white, black, yellow

About the habitat

Open woodland, olive groves, orchards, parks, gardens and villages with old trees or walls offering nest holes; winters in African savanna.

Diet

Mainly large insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, moths and beetles, as well as other invertebrates, occasionally small birds, rodents and lizards, taken mostly at night.

Behaviour

Largely nocturnal; the male repeats a single deep, whistled “tyoo” every few seconds for hours, and pairs often duet. By day it roosts pressed against a tree trunk, relying on camouflage. It nests in holes in trees or walls or in nest boxes; the female incubates while both parents feed the young.

Sources

Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scops Owl (Otus scops), Kalloni, Lesvos, Greece, 19.04.2015 (16773748434).jpg

Sound: Carlo Fracasso, XC787411, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/787411

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_scops_owl

See also