Introductory
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Otus asio | Eastern Screech-Owl 



ABBREVIATION : 
OTAS

COMMON NAMES : 
   eastern screech-owl
   common screech-owl
   shivering owl
   little horned owl
   little dukelet
   demon owl
   dusk owl


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of eastern screech-owl is Otus
asio (Linnaeus).  It is a member of the family Strigidae [27].  It was
recently split from western screech-owl (O. kennicottii) which was
formerly treated as a subspecies [3,21].  These two species interbreed
in the Big Bend region of Texas where their ranges overlap [21].

Marshall [21] accepted five subspecies as follows:

  O. a. maxwelliae (Ridgway),     Rocky Mountain screech-owl
  O. a. hasbroucki (Ridgway),     Hasbrouck's screech-owl
  O. a. mccalli (Cassin),         Texas screech-owl
  O. a. asio (Linneaus),          southern screech-owl
  O. a. floridanus (Ridgway),     Florida screech-owl


ORDER : 
Strigiformes

CLASS : 
Bird

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
See OTHER STATUS

OTHER STATUS : 
The eastern screech-owl is listed as a species of special concern on the
American Ornithologists' Union Blue List.  It was first blue-listed in
1981, and was listed again in 1982 and 1986.  Numbers of eastern
screech-owls have been reported as declining on the Hudson-Delaware,
southern Atlantic Coast, and in Appalachian and mid-western prairie
regions [34].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Janet Sullivan, May 1995


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Sullivan, Janet. 1995. Otus asio. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Otus asio | Eastern Screech-Owl