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Striped Owl | Asio clamator
Gestreepte ransuil | Búho listado
The Striped Owl is a medium-sized Asio owl of open and semi-open country, ranging from Mexico to Argentina. In the Caribbean it occurs only on Tobago, which has its own, little-studied subspecies (oberi). It is nocturnal and hunts mainly rodents from a perch.
Voice
On the mainland a series of loud, barking calls, woo-woo-woo, and a long, descending whistle, heeeeyuw. Hardly any recordings of Tobago birds are known.
Recording: Jacob Wijpkema — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
30–38 cm, with long ear tufts set wide apart on the head. The facial disc is white to off-white with a narrow black rim; the eyes are dark brown to cinnamon-brown. The upperparts are buff-brown with black streaks and fine markings. The underparts are pale buff with broad black streaks on breast and flanks, without cross-bars. The toes are feathered. Females are larger than males.
Confusion species
Stygian Owl Asio stygius is much darker, with a blackish face and yellow eyes; in Trinidad and Tobago it is a rare vagrant. Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus has yellow eyes set in dark patches, short ear tufts and an unstreaked belly. American Barn Owl Tyto furcata has a pale heart-shaped disc without ear tufts and unstreaked underparts.
Habitat
Grassland, pasture and farmland with scattered trees, forest edge, open coastal woodland and marsh edges; it avoids closed forest. By day it roosts in dense foliage or on the ground in tall grass. At night it hunts from a post or branch, mainly for rodents, also birds, bats and large insects. It nests on the ground among grass or low vegetation.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
In the region only an uncommon resident on Tobago (subspecies oberi). Not recorded on Trinidad. The GBIF map shows few or no records on Tobago; the species is seldom reported there. Outside the region from southern Mexico through Central and South America to northern Argentina and Uruguay.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Best after dusk along roads through open farmland and grassland with trees on Tobago, where the owl may sit on posts and wires. In headlights the long ear tufts and white face are distinctive.
Conservation status
Not threatened as a species; on the mainland it benefits from clearing that creates open country. Little is known about the size and trend of the Tobago population.
Scientific name
Asio clamator | (Vieillot, 1808) (GBIF: Pseudoscops clamator)
Vieillot described the species in 1808 as Bubo Clamator; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Asio was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Asio is the Latin name of a horned or eared owl. clamator is Latin for 'shouter', after the loud call. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cayenne, French Guiana.