Feather Jeweled
by Geri Glavis
Title
Feather Jeweled
Artist
Geri Glavis
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
Feather Jeweled
Photo Graphics by Geri Glavis
Copyright 2016
The spectacled owl, Pulsatrix perspicillata, is a large tropical owl native to the neotropics. It is a resident breeder in forests from southern Mexico and Trinidad, through Central America, south to southern Brazil, Paraguay and northwestern Argentina.[1] There are six subspecies.[2] One is occasionally treated as a separate species called the short-browed or brown spectacled owl[3] but the consensus is that it is still merely a race until more detailed analysis can be done.[4]
The spectacled owl can range from 41 to 52.3 cm (16.1 to 20.6 in) in length. Mass in males can range from 453 to 1,075 g (0.999 to 2.370 lb), where as females can weigh from 680 to 1,250 g (1.50 to 2.76 lb). 10 males from the nominate subspecies (P. p. perspicillata) were found to average 767 g (1.691 lb) while 8 females averaged 908 g (2.002 lb).[5][6] It is unmistakable in most of its range (except with other Pulsatrix owls) with blackish brown upperparts, head and upper breast, white facial markings and whitish to yellowish-ochre underparts. The eyes are yellow, the only Pulsatrix with this eye color, and the beak is pale. The juvenile is even more distinctive than the adult, being completely white apart from a chocolate brown facial disc. The head is typically darker than the back and mantle but the shade of this area besides the composition of the breast band is the main distinguishing external feature of the subspecies.[3] Compared to the band-bellied owl (P. melanota), it is of similar size, but that species has dark eyes, white eyebrows and a brown chest band broken by buffy-whitish barring the rest of broadly the underparts being whitish with reddish-brown barring. The spectacled owl is generally found at lower elevations than the band-bellied but their ranges overlap or abut from Colombia to northern Bolivia. The tawny-browed owl (P. koeniswaldiana), found from northeastern Argentina to eastern Brazil, is fairly similar in appearance to the spectacled but is marked smaller with ochraceous-tawny from the eyebrows down to the belly and dark chestnut eyes. Each of the three currently recognized species also has a distinct song.[3]
Vocal activity tends to be most prominent on calm, moonlit nights. The primary sound made by the spectacled owl consists of guttural knocking or tapping sounds with a popping effect: PUP-pup-pup-pup-po, POK pok pok bog bog bog bobobo or BOO Boo boo boo boo. Each progressive note becomes weaker and lower in pitch but faster in pace as the call continues. The male is the primary singer to proclaim a territory, often singing from the upper third of a tall tree. However, females also sing, uttering the same song but with a higher pitch. Duets between pairs have been heard on moonlit nights. Females also make a hawk-like scream with an emphasis on the drawn-out second syllable, ker-WHEEER, which has often been compared to a steam-whistle. Young spectacled owls beg with a harsh, high-pitched keew call.[3] In Colombia, an author noted that the song is similar to the tapping pattern of the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). In Brazil, spectacled owls are known locally as "knocking owls".[7]
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June 22nd, 2016
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