Order STRIGIFORMES:
Suborder STRIGI:
Family TYTONIDAE:
Tyto tenebricosa  GREATER SOOTY-OWL.  Dense rain forest.  Lowlands and mts. to 3650 m in New Guinea, incl. Yapen I.; e,se Australia from extreme se Queensland near Brisbane s to e Victoria, e of Melbourne.
Tyto multipunctata  LESSER SOOTY-OWL.  Dense rain forest.  Lowlands of ne Australia in ne Queensland from Cooktown to Townsville.  Sometimes included in tenebricosa.
Tyto inexspectata  MINAHASSA MASKED-OWL.  Forest.  Hills, 250-1500 m, of n Sulawesi.
Tyto nigrobrunnea  TALIABU MASKED-OWL.  Forest.  Previously known from a single specimen from Taliabu I. in the Sula Islands off e Sulawesi; recently rediscovered.  May be conspecific with inexpectata.

Tyto sororcula  LESSER MASKED-OWL.  Forest, woodland.  Lowlands of Buru I. in the s Moluccas and the Tanimbar Is.  Often included in novaehollandiae.
Tyto manusi  MANUS MASKED-OWL.  Forest, woodland.  Lowlands of Manus I. in the Admiralty Islands, nc Bismarck Arch.  Often included in novaehollandiae.
Tyto aurantia  BISMARCK MASKED-OWL.  Forest edge, thickets.  New Britain I. in the se Bismarck Arch.
Tyto novaehollandiae  AUSTRALIAN MASKED-OWL.  Forest, savanna.  Lowlands of s New Guinea from Merauke to the Fly River, incl. Daru I.  Australia (except the arid interior and Tasmania).
Tyto castanops  TASMANIAN MASKED-OWL.  Forest.  Tasmania.

Tyto rosenbergii  SULAWESI OWL.  Rain forest.  Sulawesi.
Tyto soumagnei  MADAGASCAR RED OWL.  Humid forest.  Madagascar.
Possibly nearing extinction.  Recorded only once since 1934 but recently found in captivity in town of Andapa and reportedly captured 300 miles north of previous records (World Birdwatch 16(1):3).
Tyto alba  BARN OWL.  Open country, savanna, farmlands, cities.  From British Isles, extreme s Sweden and extreme w Russia s through cont. Europe, Mediterranean region and Africa to s S. Africa (recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Djibouti), Comoro Is., Madagascar, Near East, Iraq, Iran and Arabia; lowlands to 1000 m in Pakistan, India, s Andaman Is., c,s Burma, extreme sw China, Thailand, Cambodia, n,c Laos, s Vietnam and Malay Pen.; Sumatra, s Borneo, Java, Lesser Sunda Is. and is. in Flores Sea; se New Guinea, Bismarck Arch. (Long I., New Ireland, and Boang in the Tanga Is.), Solomon Is.(Green I., Buka, Vella Lavella, Malaita), Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, Banks and Loyalty is., Fiji, Tonga, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, Samoa, and Society Is.; Australia, Tasmania.  From sw British Columbia and Washington e across n U.S. and s Ontario to c New England, and s through U.S., Bermuda, W. Indies, Mexico, C. America and S. America.  Intro. Seychelles, Hawaiian Is., Lord Howe I., New Zealand.

T. alba and T. glaucops breed sympatrically in Hispaniola, which suggests that this world-wide complex may consist of several species so similar in morphology that they have not been recognized as distinct and are combined in Tyto alba.  Reports that two forms introduced on Lord Howe I. have bred without hybridization suggest that the Australasian race delicatula may be a distinct species.  The dwarfed race punctatissima of the Galapagos Is. has also been treated as a species and there may be others.

Tyto glaucops  ASHY-FACED OWL.  Open country, scrub, caves.  Hispaniola.  Sympatric with alba.
Tyto capensis  AFRICAN GRASS-OWL.  Grassland.  In sw Cameroon, Congo, c,ne Zaire, c Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and w,c Kenya s to Malawi, Mozambique, n Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, e,s S. Africa.
Tyto longimembris  EASTERN GRASS-OWL.  Grassland.  Lowlands to 1800 m in Himalayan foothills of n,e India, se China, Taiwan, c,s,e Burma and Vietnam.  S,e Sulawesi, incl. Tukangbesi Is., Flores in the Lesser Sunda Is. and the Philippine islands of Batan and Calamian is., Luzon, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Siquijor, Mindanao and Basilan; mts. to 2500 m, of c,e New Guinea from the Snow Mts. and c ranges e to the Huon Peninsula and s to Merauke region; New Caledonia and Fiji on Viti Levu; coastal from ne W. Australia (Kimberleys) e through e N. Australia to Queensland, and s to extreme ne S. Australia and n New S. Wales to the Clarence River.
Sometimes included in T. capensis.

Phodilus prigoginei  CONGO BAY-OWL.  Humid forest.  Known only from type specimen taken nw of L. Tanganyika in mts. 2430 m in e Zaire.
Phodilus badius  ORIENTAL BAY-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 1500 m in ne India, Sri Lanka, se China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam (Tonkin, n Annam, Cochinchina), Malaya, Sumatra (incl. Nias and Belitung), Borneo (incl. Natuna Is.) and Java and Bali; one record from Samar I. in the Philippines, possibly a vagrant.

Family STRIGIDAE:
*
Otus:
The species level taxonomy of Old World Scops-Owls has become mainly dependent on comparisons of male vocalizations, many of which are known (e.g., Marshall 1978. Ornith. Monogr. 25:1-58. A.O.U.).
New World Screech-Owls tend to sound and look alike and the limits of species and assignments of subspecies are being revised (J. T. Marshall, pers. comm.).
Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire (1993, pp. 335-339) discuss the African species of  owls, including vocalizations.
The following arrangement is tentative and subject to change.  DNA sequence comparisons (e.g., Heidrich, König and Wink (see below) have added to the data.
*
Otus sagittatus  WHITE-FRONTED SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands below 600 m in Malay Pen.  One specimen from n Sumatra, possibly a vagrant.

Otus rufescens  REDDISH SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 1350 m of peninsular Thailand and Malaya; Sumatra (incl. Bangka), Borneo and Java; a record from the Sulu Arch. in the s Philippines is questionable.
Otus icterorhynchus  SANDY SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Locally in equatorial belt of w,c Africa in ne Liberia (Mt. Nimba), Ivory Coast, s Ghana, s Cameroon and c,ne,ce Zaire.
Otus ireneae  SOKOKE SCOPS-OWL.  Brachystegia woodland.  Lowlands of coastal c Kenya in the Sokoke Forest.
Otus balli  ANDAMAN SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Andaman Is.

Otus spilocephalus  MOUNTAIN SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest, woodland.  Mts., 1200-2600 m, from Himalayan foothills of n Pakistan, n,e India, se China and mts. of Taiwan s to se Asia (exc. Cambodia and s Vietnam); mts. of Sumatra and mts. of Borneo.
Otus umbra  SIMEULUE SCOPS-OWL.  Broken forest, edge.  Coastal areas of Simeulue I., off w Sumatra.
Otus angelinae  JAVAN SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Mts. of Java.  May be conspecific with spilocephalus.  J. T. Marshall considers angelinae to be conspecific with O. brookii.
Otus manadensis  SULAWESI SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands and mts. to 2500 m of Sulawesi, including Peleng, Sangihe, Banggai and Sula is.; and Kaledupa in the Tukangbesi Is.

Otus longicornis  LUZON SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Foothills and mts. of Luzon, n Philippines.
Otus mindorensis  MINDORO SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Mts. of Mindoro I. in the c Philippines.
Otus alfredi  FLORES SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Mts. of Flores Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Status uncertain, may be a red color phase of O. magicus albiventris.  B. King (pers. comm.) suggests alberti may be "the unidentified Otus on Sumba."
Otus mirus  MINDANAO SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Mts. of Mindanao in the s Philippines.

Otus hartlaubi  SAO TOME SCOPS-OWL.  Humid forest.  Mts. of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea.
Otus brucei  PALLID SCOPS-OWL.  Arid, rocky gullies with scrub.  Lowlands to 1800 m of sw,sc Palearctic from s Turkey, ne Egypt, Arabia and Iraq e through Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Sympatric with O. scops in Pakistan.
Otus flammeolus  FLAMMULATED OWL.  Pine forest, woodland.  Mts. from s British Columbia, nc Washington, e Oregon, s Idaho and n Colorado s to s Calif., s Arizona, s New Mexico, se Coahuila, Nuevo León and w Texas; c Mexico.  To Guatemala and El Salvador in winter.
Otus scops  COMMON SCOPS-OWL.  Open woods, savanna, towns. The voices of sunia and senegalensis differ from that of O. scops and B. King recommends species status for both.
Lowlands to 2500 m from s Europe (n to c France, s Germany, s Poland) e across nw,c Russia to sw Siberia e to Lake Baikal and w Transbaikalia and extreme w China (w Sinkiang), s to nw Africa from Morocco to Tunisia, Mediterranean region (incl. most islands), Turkey, Near and Middle East to Pakistan (Baluchistan).  Absent from Kazakhstan and area between Caspian and Aral seas.  Winters from the Mediterranean region e to s India and s to c Africa.

Otus sunia  ORIENTAL SCOPS-OWL.  From Mongolia, extreme se Siberia, c,s China, Korea and Japan s to e Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar is., se Asia, incl. Malay Peninsula, sw Borneo, s Philippines (Romblon, Cuyo Is., Mindanao, Tawitawi), Taiwan and Daito (Minami) and Izu Is.  Some of these records may be wintering birds or misidentified specimens.
Otus senegalensis  AFRICAN SCOPS-OWL.  From Senegambia, s Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau to Ivory Coast and e to Nigeria, Cameroon (incl. Pagalu), s Chad, s Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Socotra Island (socotranus) and s Arabia, s (exc. forested c Africa and sw deserts) to s S. Africa.  Recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo.  Includes feae of Annobón I. off Equatorial Guinea.

Otus elegans  ELEGANT SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Locally on is. off s Japan, Ryukyu and Daito is., Lan Yü I. and small islands off n Luzon in the Philippines.
Otus mantananensis  MANTANANI SCOPS-OWL.  Forest, woodland.  Mantanani I. off n Borneo; wc Philippines (Calamian Is., Palawan, Romblon); sw Philippines (Sulu Arch. on Tumindao and Sibutu).
Otus magicus  MOLUCCAN SCOPS-OWL.  Forest, woodland. Lesser Sunda Is. (Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Lomblen, Wetar); Moluccas (Halmahera, Morotai, Ternate, Bacan, Obi, Buru, Ambon, Seram).  Seychelles (=insularis).
The form beccarii on Biak I. in Geelvink Bay off nw New Guinea may be a separate species.  Some insular populations may be separate species.

Otus enganensis  ENGGANO SCOPS-OWL.  Enggano I. off w Sumatra.
Otus insularis  SEYCHELLES SCOPS-OWL.  Mahé I. in the cs Seychelles where it is possibly nearing extinction.
Otus rutilus  MALAGASY SCOPS-OWL.  Forest, brushy areas.  Pemba I. off Tanzania (=pembaensis); lowlands to 1800 m of Madagascar.
The populations on Anjouan and Grand Comoro islands have been treated as subspecies of O. rutilus.
Otus capnodes  ANJOUAN SCOPS-OWL.  Anjouan Island in the Comoro Islands.
Vocally distinct from O. rutilus.

Otus pauliani  COMORO SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Mts., 1000-1900 m, Grand Comoro in the Comoro Is.  May be a race of rutilus but reported to be vocally distinct.
Otus brookii  RAJAH SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Mts., 1200-2400 m, in Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
Otus bakkamoena  INDIAN SCOPS-OWL.  Forest, second growth, woodland, open country, towns.S India and Sri Lanka.
*
Peters (1940. Check-list of Birds of the World, vol. 4) listed 18 subspecies of Otus bakkamoena.  The type locality for Otus b. bakkamoena is "Ceylon".  The forms lettia, lempiji, semitorques, mentawi and fuliginosus are among the 18 subspecies of bakkamoena recognized by Peters.
The other names have been synonymized with one of these.
Currently, voice recordings and playback experiments are being used to differentiate among "species" and data are lacking for many areas.
The following arrangement may, or may not, represent species limits.  The geographic distributions are also uncertain and subject to revision.
*
Otus lettia  COLLARED SCOPS-OWL.  Lowlands to 1200 m in Pakistan (Baluchistan, Sind), India n to Himalayan foothills and e to w Bengal, incl. Himalayas to 2200 m from Kashmir e to c Nepal.
Otus lempiji  SUNDA SCOPS-OWL.  Lowlands and mts. to 2400 m from ne,e India, China, Taiwan and se Siberia s through se Asia to Sumatra (incl. Bangka and Belitung), Borneo (incl. N. Natuna Is.), Java and Bali (incl. Kangean I.).
Otus semitorques  JAPANESE SCOPS-OWL.  Kuril Is., Japan and Izu Is.  Differs in vocalizations and eye color.
Otus mentawi  MENTAWAI SCOPS-OWL.  Rain forest.  Siberut, Sipoura and Pagai islands off w Sumatra.

Otus fuliginosus  PALAWAN SCOPS-OWL.  Forest, woodland.  Lowlands of Palawan I., sw Philippines.
Otus megalotis  PHILIPPINE SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands to 1600 m of the Philippine Is. of Luzon, Catanduanes, Marinduque, Samar, Leyte, Negros, Bohol, Dinagat, Mindanao and Basilan.  May be a race of bakkamoena.
Otus silvicola  WALLACE'S SCOPS-OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands to 2000 m of c Lesser Sunda Is. on Sumbawa and Flores.
Otus leucotis  WHITE-FACED SCOPS-OWL.  Dry savanna, thornveld.  From Senegambia and s Mauritania e across s Mali, s Niger, s Chad and c,s Sudan to Ethiopia and Somalia, and s to n,e S. Africa in n Cape Prov., Transvaal, nw Orange Free State and Natal.  Southern and northern races are reported to be vocally distinct and may be separate species.  Recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Equatorial Guinea.

Otus kennicottii  WESTERN SCREECH-OWL.  Cactus desert, riparian woodland, mesquite, forest.

O. k. kennicottii.  From cs,se Alaska, w,s British Columbia, n Idaho, w Montana, se Colorado and extreme w Oklahoma s to s Baja Calif., Mexican highlands (to Distrito Federal) and w,sc Texas.
 O. k. vinaceus.  From s Sonora, w Chihuahua and n Sinaloa.
 O. k. seductus.  Deciduous woods, mesquite, dense second growth.  Lowlands in Colima and Río Balsas drainage of Michoacán and w Guerrero.
 O. k. cooperi.  Open woods, swampy forest, mangroves, giant cactus stands, palms.  Pacific slope from sw Oaxaca and Chiapas s to nw Costa Rica in Guanacaste.
 Species limits unclear and debatable; seductus and cooperi are probably distinct species and there may be others to be discovered.

Otus asio  EASTERN SCREECH-OWL. Woodland, deciduous forest, riparian woodland.  From extreme s Saskatchewan, s Manitoba, n Minnesota, n Michigan, s Ontario, sw Quebec and Maine s to c Nuevo León, e San Luis Potosí, s Tamaulipas, Gulf coast and s Florida.
Otus trichopsis  WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL.  Pine-oak woodland and forest.  Mts. from se Arizona, ne Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León s through Mexico and n C. America to nc Nicaragua.
Otus choliba  TROPICAL SCREECH-OWL.  Open woodland, forest edge, second growth, savanna, towns, bamboo stands.  Lowlands and mts. to 3000 m from c Costa Rica to Panama, and from w,n,e Colombia, Venezuela (incl. Margarita I.), Trinidad and Guianas s, e of Andes, to n Argentina, Paraguay and s Brazil.
Otus koepckeae  KOEPCKE'S SCREECH-OWL.  Arid forest.  Mts. in n Peru and cw Bolivia.  Reasons for treating this taxon as a species have not been published but are in Maria Koepcke's manuscript and vocalizations are distinct.  (J. T. Marshall, pers. comm.).

Otus roboratus  WEST PERUVIAN SCREECH-OWL.  Arid woodland, mesquite, cacti.  Lowlands and mts. to 3200 m of nw Peru.
Otus clarkii  BARE-SHANKED SCREECH-OWL.  Montane cloud forest, edge.  Locally in mts., 900-2350 m, in Costa Rica, Panama and extreme nw Colombia.  (O. nudipes = Strix nudipes).
Otus barbarus  SANTA BARBARA SCREECH-OWL.  Pine forest.  Locally in mts., 1350-1850 m, in Chiapas and n Guatemala.
Otus ingens  RUFESCENT SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest.  W. Andes, 1300-2100 m, of w Colombia (colombianus); mts., 1200-1850 m, from wc,ne Colombia and n Venezuela s through Andes of e Ecuador and Peru to wc Bolivia (ingens).  Venezuelan birds have been said to be vocally distinct, but J. T. Marshall reports that they are not.  Colombian birds are sometimes treated as a separate species but their vocalizations are known and do not differ (J. T. Marshall, pers. comm.).

Otus marshalli  CLOUD-FOREST SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest.  Andes, 1500-2700 m, of s Ecuador, n,e Peru.  O. marshalli and petersoni are considered subspecies of Otus huberi by J. T. Marshall (pers. comm.).  Thus, O. huberi , which has priority, is the correct name for this species.
Otus watsonii  TAWNY-BELLIED SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands from e Colombia, w,s Venezuela and Surinam s, e of Andes, to e Ecuador, ne,e Peru, n Bolivia and Amazonian Brazil.  O. usta has been included in watsonii -- see note under O. atricapillus.
Otus atricapillus  VARIABLE SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest, open woodland.
*
For a molecular study of the "Otus atricapillus complex", Heidrich, et al. (in press.  Zeitschrift für Naturforschung) sequenced 300 base pairs of the cytochrome b gene of six South American species of Otus.  They concluded that guatemalae and hoyi are "independent and distinct species" - not subspecies of atricapillus.
They also recognized O. usta as the closest relative of O. atricapillus, rather than as the southern subspecies of O. watsonii.  Otus guatemalae emerged as the sister taxon of a group that includes choliba, atricapillus, usta, sanctaecatarinae and hoyi; thus, a superspecies guatemalae would include these species.  There are other opinions about the relationships among these taxa and the present arrangement is used until a review of the New World species of Otus is presented by one of the owl specialists.  The following three forms are allopatric and on that evidence alone are good candidates for specific recognition.
*
O. a. guatemalae.  Mostly in mts. from se Sonora and Tamaulipas s on both slopes of Mexico to Yucatan Pen., Cozumel I., Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and nc Nicaragua; locally in ne Costa Rica, Panama, and w Colombia; n Venezuela (mts. in Zulia, Táchira, Aragua, Sucre, Amazonas and Bolívar), w,e Ecuador, e Peru (Pasco) and c Bolivia (Cochabamba).
 O. a. hoyi.  Mts. of nw Argentina in Salta.
 O. a. atricapillus.  Se S. America in Paraguay and se Brazil (Goiás, Bahia, São Paulo, Paraná).

Otus vermiculatus  VERMICULATED SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands in Costa Rica, Panama and northwestern Colombia.  Considered to be conspecific with O. atricapillus by J. T. Marshall (pers. comm.).
Otus sanctaecatarinae  LONG-TUFTED SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest, open woodland.  Foothills in s Brazil (Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul) and extreme ne Argentina in Misiones.
Otus lawrencii  BARE-LEGGED OWL.  Dense forest, thickets, caves.  Cuba and the Isle of Pines.
Otus nudipes  PUERTO RICAN SCREECH-OWL.  Dense woodland, thickets, caves.  Puerto Rico, incl. Vieques and Culebra islands; and the Virgin Islands.

Otus podarginus  PALAU OWL.  Mangroves, humid forest.  Palau.
Otus albogularis  WHITE-THROATED SCREECH-OWL.  Humid forest, stunted alpine forest.  Mts., 1300-3600 m, from Colombia and nw Venezuela s through Andes of e Ecuador and n,e Peru.
Mimizuku gurneyi  LESSER EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest, second growth.  Lowlands of se Philippine Islands of Dinagat, Siargao and Mindanao.  Placed in Bubo by J.T. Marshall (pers. comm.).
Bubo virginianus  GREAT HORNED OWL.  Forest, second growth, swamps, woodland, towns, mangroves, desert.  From w,c Alaska, c Yukon, nw,s Mackenzie, s Keewatin, n Manitoba, n Ontario, n Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland s through N., Middle and S. America to Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn.

Bubo bubo  EURASIAN EAGLE-OWL.  Forest, woodland, desert, farmlands.  From s,e cont. Europe and Scandinavia e across nw,c Russia and c Siberia to upper Kolyma R., Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, Kuril Is. and Japan, and s to n Mediterranean region, Turkey, n Iraq, Iran, ne Afghanistan, n Pakistan, n India, Tibet, China and Korea.
Bubo bengalensis  ROCK EAGLE-OWL.  Forest, woodland, desert.  Lowlands and mts. to 2400 m of Pakistan, India and w Burma.  Often treated as a subspecies of Bubo bubo.
Bubo ascalaphus  PHARAOH EAGLE-OWL.  Open rocky woodland, desert.  From Morocco e to Egypt, Near East, w Iraq and Arabia, and s to s Mauritania, s Mali, s Niger, s Chad and c Sudan..  Often treated as a subspecies of Bubo bubo, as do Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire (1993).

Bubo capensis  CAPE EAGLE-OWL.  Grassland, evergreen forest.  Highlands above 2000 m from w,c Ethiopia and Eritrea s through w,s Kenya, c Tanzania, w Mozambique and e Zimbabwe; s Namibia and S. Africa.
Bubo africanus  SPOTTED EAGLE-OWL.  Savanna, woodland.  From Senegambia e across s Mali, s Niger, s Chad and c,s Sudan to Ethiopia, Somalia and s Arabia (e to United Arab Emirates and Oman), and s to s S. Africa.  Recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Equatorial Guinea.
Bubo poensis  FRASER'S EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, s Cameroon, Bioko I., Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Cabinda, s C. African Rep. and n,ne Zaire to extreme sw Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and s to sw,sc,ce Zaire.

Bubo vosseleri  USAMBARA EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  Usambara Mts. of ne Tanzania.  Often treated as a subspecies of B. poensis, but its vocalizations are distinct.  It is isolated from populations of B. poensis and its status is unclear.  Most authors, incl. Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire (1993), treat it as a subspecies of poensis.  It is equally appropriate to treat it as a species until the data are more convincing.
Bubo nipalensis  SPOT-BELLIED EAGLE-OWL.  Humid and riparian forest.  Lowlands to 2100 m in India, s,e Burma, nw,ne,sw Thailand, Cambodia, n Laos and n,c Vietnam.
Bubo sumatranus  BARRED EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 1600 m in Malay Pen., Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali.

Bubo shelleyi  SHELLEY'S EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  Locally in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, s Ghana, s Cameroon, Gabon and cn Zaire; possibly in Congo.
Bubo lacteus  VERREAUX'S EAGLE-OWL.  Woodland, riparian forest, savanna.  From s Mauritania, Senegambia, c Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast e to Cameroon, s Chad, c,s Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, and s to s S. Africa.  Recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo.
Bubo coromandus  DUSKY EAGLE-OWL.  Savanna, riparian forest.  Lowlands in Pakistan, India, w,c,s Burma, sw and peninsular Thailand and Malaya.
Bubo leucostictus  AKUN EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  In Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, s Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Cabinda and n,sc,ce Zaire.
Bubo philippensis  PHILIPPINE EAGLE-OWL.  Humid forest.  Philippine islands of Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.
 Ketupa and Nyctaea are osteologically identical to Bubo and these three genera are genetically closely-related as indicated by DNA-DNA hybridization (Sibley and Ahlquist, 1990:847, fig. 362).

Ketupa blakistoni  BLAKISTON'S FISH-OWL.  Riparian forest, thickets along streams, moist taiga.  Se Siberia, n Manchuria, n Korea, s Kuril Is. and n Japan.
Ketupa zeylonensis  BROWN FISH-OWL.  Forest, streams, lakes, rice paddies.  Locally in lowlands to 1500 m in s Turkey, Israel, s Iraq, sw Iran, and from Afghanistan e through Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka to s China and se Asia s to n Malaya.
Ketupa flavipes  TAWNY FISH-OWL.  Riparian forest.  Himalayan foothills to 1500 m in n,e India, c,se China, ne Burma, n Laos, n,s Vietnam and Taiwan.
Ketupa ketupu  BUFFY FISH-OWL.  Riparian forest, rice paddies, mangroves.  Lowlands to 1600 m in w,s Burma, Indochina (exc. n Laos and n Vietnam), Malay Pen., Sumatra (incl. Nias, Bangka, Belitung and Riau Arch.), Borneo, Java and Bali.

Nyctea scandiaca  SNOWY OWL.  Tundra, open country, fields and prairie.  N Greenland, Iceland, Shetland Is. (formerly), Spitsbergen, and from w,n Scandinavia e across n Russia and n Siberia to Chukotski Pen., Anadyrland, n Koryakland, and Commander and Hall is.; w Aleutians, Hall I., and from n Alaska, n Yukon and Banks, Prince Patrick and n Ellesmere is. s to coastal w Alaska, n Mackenzie, s Keewatin, ne Manitoba, Southampton and Belcher is., n Quebec and n Labrador.

Scotopelia peli  PEL'S FISHING-OWL.  Riparian forest, lacustrine woodland.  Locally in Senegambia, sw Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, s Niger, Nigeria, s Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, C. African Rep., s Sudan and w,c Ethiopia, Eritrea, s Somalia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and s to nw Angola, sw,c,se Zaire, Zambia, extreme ne Namibia, n,e Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and e S. Africa.
Scotopelia ussheri  RUFOUS FISHING-OWL.  Humid forest.  Locally in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Scotopelia bouvieri  VERMICULATED FISHING-OWL.  Woodland edge, humid forest edge.  Locally in s Nigeria, extreme s Cameroon, sw C. African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Cabinda, extreme n Angola and sw,c,n Zaire.

Strix seloputo  SPOTTED WOOD-OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands in s Burma, Thailand (exc. se,sw), Cambodia, s Vietnam, Malaya, Java and sw Philippines (Calamian Is. and Palawan).
Strix ocellata  MOTTLED WOOD-OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands of n,c India from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab n to base of the Himalayas and e to W. Bengal.
Strix leptogrammica  BROWN WOOD-OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands and mts. to 4000 m from n Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, se China and Taiwan s through Thailand, n Laos, n,c Vietnam and Malaya to Sumatra, Borneo and Java.
Strix aluco  TAWNY OWL.  Forest, woodland, towns.  From British Isles, s Scandinavia and w,c,sw Russia s to nw Africa (Morocco to Tunisia), n Mediterranean region, Turkey, Near East, n,e Iraq, w,n Iran and extreme s Russia; mts., 1220-4250 m, from Turkestan and nw Tadzhikistan, n Pakistan and n India e through Himalayas of se Tibet and c,e China to w,e Burma, n Vietnam, Korea and Taiwan.
*
Heidrich and Wink (1994. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 49c:230-234) compared 300 bases of the cytochrome b gene for Strix aluco, S. butleri and S. woodfordi.  They found 9-12% differences between these species and concluded that they are "distinct species".
*
Strix butleri  HUME'S OWL.  Palm groves, desert, semi-desert, rocky ravines.  Locally in Syria, Israel, ne,e Egypt and w,se Arabia; reports from Iranian shore of Persian Gulf and w coastal Pakistan are questionable.
Strix occidentalis  SPOTTED OWL.  Mature coniferous and mixed coniferous-oak forest, wooded canyons.  Mts. and coastal region from sw British Columbia s through w Washington and w Oregon to s Calif.; formerly to n Baja Calif.; Rocky Mt. region from s Utah and c Colorado s through mts. of Arizona, New Mexico, extreme w Texas, ne Sonora, Chihuahua and Nuevo León to Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato.  Hybridizes with S. varia where ranges overlap.
Strix varia  BARRED OWL.  Dense woodland, swamps, riparian forest.  From se Alaska (possibly), sw,s,e British Columbia, c Alberta and c Saskatchewan s to nw Calif., ne Oregon (probably) and w Montana, and from s Manitoba, c Ontario, s Quebec, Anticosti I., New Brunswick, Prince Edward I. and Nova Scotia s, e of the Rockies, to c,s Texas, Gulf coast and s Florida; c Plateau of Mexico from Durango s to Guerrero and Oaxaca, and e to San Luis Potosí, Puebla and Veracruz.

Strix fulvescens  FULVOUS OWL.  Humid forest, pine-oak.  Mts. in Chiapas, Guatemala, possibly Honduras.  Probably conspecific with varia; differs slightly in voice (J.T. Marshall, pers. comm.).
Strix hylophila  RUSTY-BARRED OWL.  Forest.  Paraguay, se Brazil and n Argentina.
Strix rufipes  RUFOUS-LEGGED OWL.  Dense forest, chaco.  From c Chile, n Argentina, se Bolivia and w Paraguay s to Tierra del Fuego.
Strix uralensis  URAL OWL.  Boreal forest, mixed woodland.

S. u. uralensis.  From c,se Norway, Sweden, c,s Finland and Lithuania e across nw,c Russia and c,s Siberia s to Mongolia, Manchuria, Sakhalin, Korea and Japan; locally mts. (mostly) of ec Europe in extreme se W. Germany, Poland, Carpathian Mts., Transylvanian Alps, Yugoslavia and n Albania.
 S. u. davidi  SICHUAN WOOD-OWL.  Forest.  Mts., 4000-5000 m, of c China in se Tsinghai, w,n Szechwan.  Vocally like S. uralensis in Japan (B. King, pers. comm.).

Strix nebulosa  GREAT GREY OWL.  Dense boreal forest.  From n,e Scandinavia e across n Russia and n Siberia to w Anadyrland and Koryakland, and s to s Siberia, ne Mongolia and Manchuria; from c Alaska, n Yukon, nw,c Mackenzie, n Manitoba, n Ontario and wc Quebec, s locally in int. to mts. of sw Oregon, California (c Sierra Nevada), n Idaho, w Montana, nw Wyoming, c Alberta, c Saskatchewan, s Manitoba, n Minnesota, n Wisconsin, n Michigan and s Ontario.
Strix virgata  MOTTLED OWL.  Dense forest, open woodland, second growth.  Lowlands to 2000 m from s Sonora, sw Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, c Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and the Yucatán Peninsula, s to Panama, and from Colombia, n,se Venezuela, Trinidad and Guianas s, w of Andes to w Ecuador and e of Andes through e Ecuador, e Peru, n,e Bolivia and Amazonian,se Brazil to Paraguay and ne Argentina.  Often placed in Ciccaba.

Strix nigrolineata  BLACK-AND-WHITE OWL.  Humid forest, edge, deciduous woodland, dense swamps, mangroves.  Lowlands to 1500 m from e,s Mexico s locally to Panama, Colombia (locally in mts.), n Venezuela, w Ecuador and nw Peru.  May be conspecific with huhula; they interbreed in Colombia.
Strix huhula  BLACK-BANDED OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 1400 m e of Andes from e Colombia, s Venezuela, Guyana and French Guiana s through e Ecuador, e Peru, c Bolivia and Amazonian,se Brazil to Paraguay and nw,ne Argentina.
Strix albitarsus  RUFOUS-BANDED OWL.  Forest.  Locally in Andes, 1700-3400 m, in Colombia, nw Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and c Bolivia.
Strix woodfordii  AFRICAN WOOD-OWL.  Forest, dense woodland.  In Senegambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, se Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, s Cameroon, Bioko I., Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, C. African Rep., extreme se Sudan, Ethiopia and s Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, n Namibia, n,e Botswana, Zimbabwe and e,s S. Africa.

Jubula lettii  MANED OWL.  Humid forest.  In Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, s Cameroon, s C. African Rep., Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and nc,sc,ce Zaire.
Lophostrix cristata  CRESTED OWL.  Humid forest, second-growth woodland.  Lowlands to 1500 m from Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas s to Panama, w,n Colombia, w Venezuela, Guianas, e Ecuador, e Peru, n Bolivia and w Amazonian Brazil.
Pulsatrix perspicillata  SPECTACLED OWL.  Humid forest, second-growth woodland, savanna, mangroves.  Lowlands to 1500 m from Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas s to Panama, and from Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Guianas s, w of Andes to nw Peru and e of Andes through e Ecuador, e Peru, n,e,se Bolivia and Brazil to Paraguay and nw Argentina.
Pulsatrix koeniswaldiana  TAWNY-BROWED OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands in e Paraguay, se Brazil and extreme ne Argentina.

Pulsatrix melanota  BAND-BELLIED OWL.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 1000 m e of Andes in se Colombia, e Peru and wc Bolivia.
Surnia ulula  NORTHERN HAWK OWL.  Boreal forest, edge, swamps, second-growth woodland, muskeg.  From Scandinavia e across n,c Russia and n,c Siberia to Anadyrland, and s to s Russia, nw China, n Mongolia, n Manchuria and se Siberia; from w,c Alaska, c Yukon, nw,c Mackenzie, s Keewatin, n Manitoba, n Ontario, n Quebec, c Labrador and Newfoundland s to sc Alaska, s British Columbia, sc Alberta, c Saskatchewan, s Manitoba, n Minnesota, sc Ontario, n Michigan, s Quebec and New Brunswick.
*
Glaucidium:
The pygmy-owls occur in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.
A series of papers by Claus König, Petra Heidrich, Michael Wink and colleagues in Germany have included DNA sequence data for the cytochrome b gene.  A recent publication on the bioacoustics, taxonomy and molecular systematics of American Pygmy-Owls (Heidrich, König and Wink.  Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturkunde) recognizes the following species of Glaucidium in the Americas:

 G. californicum.  Rocky Mts. from Canada to Arizona, possibly n Mexico.
 G. gnoma.  Mexico to Panama, possibly nw S. America.
 G. jardinii.  Andes of n S. America, s to nw Peru.
 G. bolivianum.  Mt. forest and cloud forest on the e slope of the Andes from Peru to n Argentina.
 G. hardyi.  Lowland rain forest in tropical S. America, for example in the Amazonian region.
 G. griseiceps.  Mexico and Middle America.
 G. minutissimum.  E Brazil, s to Santa Catarina, esp. the area between Argentina and Paraguay.
 G. brasilianum.  Texas to central Argentina.
 G. peruanum.  W Ecuador, w Peru and probably nw Chile.
 G. nanum.  Chile s of Atacama and Argentina from Río Negro to Tierra del Fuego.
 G. siju.  Cuba and the Isle of Pines.

This list agrees -- and disagrees -- with the American species recognized below.
Note the differences between the two treatments for the "G.  minutissimum complex".
The cyt. b tree of Heidrich, et al. places minutissimum as the sister group of all the other species (including Athene noctua); places hardyi as closest to bolivianum and griseiceps as closest to peruanum and brasilianum.  G. perlatum and G. passerinum were found to be closely related to one another and more closely related to Athene noctua than to other species of Glaucidium.
The differences (and similarities) provide examples of the kinds of problems associated with determining species limits in nocturnal birds.
*
Glaucidium passerinum  EURASIAN PYGMY-OWL.  Open coniferous and mixed forest.  From c,s Scandinavia and mts. of c,e Europe e across nw,c Russia and s Siberia to Sea of Okhotsk, and s to n Manchuria.
Glaucidium brodiei  COLLARED OWLET.  Open forest, edge, woodland, scrub.  Mts., 800-3200 m, from Himalayas of n Pakistan, n,e India, s to Bangladesh, e Tibet, c,s China and Taiwan s through se Asia (exc. Cambodia) to Sumatra and Borneo.
Glaucidium perlatum  PEARL-SPOTTED OWLET.  Open woodland, savanna, acacia veld, dry brush.  From Senegambia and s Mauritania e across s Mali, s Niger, s Chad and c,s Sudan to Ethiopia, Eritrea and s Somalia, and s to n,e S. Africa.  Absent from forested w,c Africa.  Recorded in all subSaharan African countries except Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo

Glaucidium californicum  NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL.  Coniferous forest, edge.  From se Alaska, n British Columbia, sw Alberta, w Montana and c Colorado s to s Calif. and c Arizona and c New Mexico; mts. of the Cape District of s Baja Calif.  Split from G. gnoma, but vocal evidence is minor and J. T. Marshall (pers. comm.) doubts that this is a valid species.
Glaucidium gnoma  MOUNTAIN PYGMY-OWL.  Forest, edge, pine-oak woodland.  From se Arizona s through int. highlands of Mexico to Guatemala and c Honduras.
Glaucidium jardinii  ANDEAN PYGMY-OWL.  Humid forest, edge, woodland.  Mts. in c Costa Rica and w Panama; locally in mts. from Colombia and w Venezuela s through Andes of Ecuador to c Peru.  The population in Costa Rica and w Panama (costaricarum) may be a race of G. gnoma or a separate species.

Glaucidium bolivianum  YUNGAS PYGMY-OWL.  Humid forest.  Andes, 1400-2000 m, in sw Peru, wc Bolivia and nw Argentina.
 The Glaucidium minutissimum complex includes G. palmarum, G. sanchezi, G. griseiceps, G. parkeri, G. hardyi and G. minutissimum.  M. Robbins and S. Howell (1995.  Wilson Bull. 107:1-6) and S. Howell and M. Robbins (1995. Wilson Bull. 107:7-25).
These species are allopatric and have consistent vocal differences in addition to differences in size, plumages and habitats.  They share spotted crowns and unmarked backs and are smaller than the members of the gnoma and jardinii groups.  They live in tropical and subtropical forests, in contrast to the temperate forest habitats of the gnoma and jardinii groups.

Glaucidium palmarum  COLIMA PYGMY-OWL.  Arid to semihumid tropical deciduous thorn forest and up into oak and pine-oak woodland from sea level to 1500 m, usually in foothills.  W Mexico from Sonora to Oaxaca.  Includes the subspecies palmarum, oberholseri and griscomi.
Glaucidium sanchezi  TAMAULIPAS PYGMY-OWL.  Subtropical evergreen and semideciduous forest.  900-2100 m in ne Mexico in sw Tamaulipas and e San Luis Potosí.
Glaucidium griseiceps  CENTRAL AMERICAN PYGMY-OWL.  Tropical humid evergreen forest and edge.  Sea level to 1300 m from se Mexico in n Oaxaca and se Veracruz s on the Atlantic slope of Mexico and C. America to the Pacific slope of nw Colombia and nw Ecuador.  Includes the subspecies griseiceps, rarum and occultum.

Glaucidium parkeri  SUBTROPICAL PYGMY-OWL.  Subtropical evergreen forest.  1450-1975 m on the east slope of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru, possibly in se Colombia.  New species.  M. Robbins and S. Howell.  1995. Wilson Bull. 107:1-6.  Type locality Panguri, ca. 12 km ne of San Francisco del Vergel in Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe.
Glaucidium hardyi  HARDY'S PYGMY-OWL.  Humid tropical forest.  Sea level to 350 m in the lowlands of Amazonian Brazil in Mato Grosso, Amazonas, Rondônia and n Pará, se Peru and n Bolivia.
Glaucidium minutissimum  BRAZILIAN PYGMY-OWL.  Humid tropical forest, edge.  Sea level to 1000 m, mainly 500-800 m.  Se Brazil and adjacent Paraguay.

Glaucidium brasilianum  FERRUGINOUS PYGMY-OWL.  Woodland, forest , riparian woodland, thornscrub.  Lowlands from sc Arizona, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and extreme s Texas s to Costa Rica and w,c Panama and from n,se Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Guianas s through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay to n Chile, c Argentina and Uruguay.
Glaucidium peruanum  PERUVIAN PYGMY-OWL.  Riparian woodland, thickets, mesquite.  In w Ecuador and Peru s to Lima and Apurimac.
Glaucidium nanum   AUSTRAL PYGMY-OWL.  Open woodland, thornscrub.  S Chile and s Argentina s to Tierra del Fuego.  Sometimes treated as a race or color morph of G. brasilianum, but seems to be vocally distinct.
Glaucidium siju  CUBAN PYGMY-OWL.  Open woodland, forest edge.  Cuba and the Isle of Pines.

Glaucidium tephronotum  RED-CHESTED OWLET.  Humid forest.  Locally in Sierra Leone, ne Liberia, Ivory Coast, s Ghana, s Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, w,nc,ne,ce Zaire, Uganda, Rwanda and extreme w Kenya.
Glaucidium sjostedti  SJOSTEDT'S OWLET.  Humid forest.  In s Nigeria, sw Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and nw,c Zaire.
Glaucidium cuculoides  ASIAN BARRED OWLET.  Forest.  Mts. to 2700 m in Himalayas of n,e India, se Tibet, s China, Hainan I., and se Asia (except Malaya).
Glaucidium castanopterum  JAVAN OWLET.  Forest.  Lowlands and hills in Java and Bali.
Glaucidium radiatum  JUNGLE OWLET.  Forest.  Lowlands to 2000 m of India n to Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, W. Bengal and w Burma.

Glaucidium castanonotum  CHESTNUT-BACKED OWLET.  Forest.  Lowlands to 1950 m of Sri Lanka.  Often included in G. radiatum, but its vocalizations are reported to differ.
Glaucidium capense  AFRICAN BARRED OWLET.  Acacia veld.  From se Zaire, w Zambia, Malawi and se Kenya, s to Mozambique and e S. Africa in Natal and e Cape Province.
*
 Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire (1993) include castaneum, ngamiense, scheffleri and albertinum as subspecies of G. capense, mainly on the basis of similar vocalizations.
They provide a detailed discussion of the "Glaucidium capense complex" and they may be right about the degree of relationship among the five populations.
With reference to the entire "complex" they note that "G. capense is a forest bird in Ivory Coast
and in the Albertine Rift (albertinum, castaneum); in the Zambezian Region it is an inhabitant of tall deciduous Brachystegia woodland but also favours patches of forest in dambos and along streams; all populations are known to call occasionally by day" (as do species of Glaucidium in North America, for example) "The differences in habitat are only partial and not, in any case, reflected in the vocalizations."  The treatment here does not indicate a disagreement with these authors; it is left in this format to call attention to this interesting problem -- one species or five species?  What is not known is the degree of intergradation among these five populations.  What happens in areas of contact?  It seems clear from the distributional information in Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) that some of these populations are not in contact with others.  For example, the birds that occur in Liberia and Ivory Coast must be isolated from other populations.  This kind of taxonomic problem is frequent and an absolutely clear answer is seldom found -- instead, different species concepts lead to different answers.
*
Glaucidium castaneum  CHESTNUT OWLET.  Humid forest.  Locally in ne Liberia, Ivory Coast, ne Zaire and sw Uganda.  Often considered to be a race of G. capense, but poorly known.
Glaucidium ngamiense  NGAMI OWLET.  Forest.  Locally in sw,e,s Angola, se Zaire, s Tanzania, w Zambia, n Botswana and n,c Namibia and extreme ne S. Africa in Transvaal.  Often considered a race of G. capense, but poorly known.
Glaucidium scheffleri  SCHEFFLER'S OWLET.  Humid forest.  Locally in coastal Somalia, e Kenya and ne Tanzania.  Often considered to be a race of G. capense, but poorly known.
Glaucidium albertinum  ALBERTINE OWLET.  Humid forest.  Locally in ne,ce Zaire and Rwanda.

Xenoglaux loweryi  LONG-WHISKERED OWLET.  Cloud forest.  Known only from cloud forest of cn Peru.
Micrathene whitneyi  ELF OWL.  Cactus desert, riparian woodland, dry oak woodland, wooded canyons, mesquite.  From extreme s Nevada, se Calif., c Arizona, sw New Mexico and w,s Texas s to Sonora, Guanajuato and Puebla; s Baja Calif.; Socorro I. in the Revillagigedo Is.
Athene noctua  LITTLE OWL.  Steppes, stony semi-desert, farmlands, open woodland, towns.  From s British Isles and cont. Europe e across nw,c Russia to extreme s Siberia, Mongolia and Manchuria, and s to n,ne Africa to n Mauritania, s Mali, s Niger, c Chad, n,e Sudan, n,e Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and n Somalia.  Mediterranean region incl. most islands except Crete; Arabia, n,c Iran, Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, n India (Himalayas to 4600 m from Kashmir e to Arunachal Pradesh), Tibet and w,c China.

Athene brama  SPOTTED OWLET.  Farmlands, towns, open forest, edge, desert.  Lowlands
to 1400 m in s Iran, Pakistan, India n to Himalayan foothills incl. Nepal, Bhutan; Burma (exc. n), Thailand (exc. peninsular), Cambodia, c,s Laos and s Vietnam.
*Athene blewitti  FOREST OWLET.  Probably extinct.  Formerly in deciduous forest, jungle, mango groves.  Mts. of c India.

Speotyto cunicularia  BURROWING OWL.  Grassland, savanna, desert, farmlands.  From s int. British Columbia, s Alberta, s Saskatchewan, s Manitoba, w Minnesota, nw Iowa and w Missouri s through e Washington, c Oregon and Calif. (incl. Farallon and Channel is.), to Baja Calif., c Mexico (incl. Clarion I.) and e Texas; c,s Florida; W. Indies in Bahamas, w,e Cuba, Hispaniola and n Lesser Antilles (St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Redonda, Marie Galante); locally from n,e Colombia, Aruba and Venezuela (incl. Margarita I., but absent from Amazonas), s locally through w Ecuador, Peru, c,s Bolivia, n,c,e,se Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to Chile (Arica to Valdivia) and Argentina to n Tierra del Fuego.

Aegolius funereus  BOREAL OWL.  Boreal and subalpine forest, mixed woodland.  From Scandinavia e (mostly in mts.) across nw,c Russia and c Siberia to Anadyrland and Kamchatka Pen., and s to Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, sw Russia, Turkestan, extreme n India, w,n China and s Siberia; from c Alaska, c Yukon, s Mackenzie, n Saskatchewan, n Manitoba, n Ontario, c Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland s to s Alaska, n British Columbia, w Washington, w Oregon, c Idaho, c Saskatchewan, s Manitoba, ne Minnesota, w,c Ontario, s Quebec and New Brunswick; locally Montana, nw Wyoming, Colorado and extreme n New Mexico.
Aegolius acadicus  SAW-WHET OWL.  Forest, tamarack swamps, cedar groves, humid forest edge, open pine-oak woods.  From s Alaska, n British Columbia, and from c Alberta e across s Canada to Prince Edward I. and Nova Scotia, and s in mts. to s Calif., extreme w Texas, c Oklahoma, c Missouri, c Ohio, W. Virginia, w Maryland and New York; highlands, 1350-2500 m in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica.  Includes ridgwayi of s Mexico and Central America.

Aegolius harrisii  BUFF-FRONTED OWL.  Dry forest, rain forest, stunted alpine forest.  Locally in Andes, 1700-3100 m, in Colombia, nw,s Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, e Bolivia, Paraguay, se Brazil, Uruguay and n Argentina.
Ninox rufa  RUFOUS OWL.  Rain forest, well-wooded savanna.  Lowlands to 1800 m in Aru and Waigeo in the w Papuan is.; New Guinea; locally n,ne Australia in ne W. Australia (Kimberleys), n N. Terr. (Arnhem Land) and coasts of Queensland from Cape York Peninsula s to Rockhampton.
Ninox strenua  POWERFUL OWL.  Densely forested ravines, woodland, scrub.  Se Queensland n to Dawson River, e New S. Wales and s,e Victoria.
Ninox connivens  BARKING OWL.  Riparian forest, woodland, savanna.  Lowlands in n Moluccas (Morotai, Halmahera, Obi), c,e New Guinea w to Merauke and the Sepik River, incl. Manam and Karkar islands.  Local in Australia, absent from most of W. Australia and the arid interior.

Ninox rudolfi  SUMBA BOOBOOK.  Forest, farmlands.  Sumba I. in the c Lesser Sunda Is.  Often treated as a subspecies of N. novaeseelandiae.
Ninox boobook  SOUTHERN BOOBOOK.  Forest, farmlands.  Australia, incl. Tasmania.  Often treated as a subspecies of N. novaeseelandiae.
Ninox novaeseelandiae  MOREPORK.  Forest, farmlands.

B. King (pers. comm.) considers these four subspecies groups to be separate species.
 N. n. fusca.  STREAKED BOOBOOK.  Lowlands in e Lesser Sundas (Alor, Timor, Babar) and Kai is., cs New Guinea (Oriomo River and Wassi Kussa River areas.
 N. n. novaeseelandiae.  MOREPORK.  New Zealand.
 N. n. undulata.  NORFOLK BOOBOOK.  Norfolk Island.
 N. n. albaria.  LORD HOWE BOOBOOK.  Lord Howe Island; possibly extinct.

Ninox scutulata  BROWN BOOBOOK.  Forest, farmlands, gardens, mangroves.  Lowlands to 1300 m from Pakistan, India n to Himalayan foothills, ne,se China, se Siberia, Korea, Japan and Ryukyu Is. s to se Asia, Sumatra, Borneo, w Java, Sulawesi, Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan, Negros, Cebu, Siquijor, Mindanao, Basilan) and Taiwan.  The race obscura in the Andaman and Nicobar islands may be a separate species.
Ninox affinis  ANDAMAN BOOBOOK.  Forest.  Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Ninox superciliaris  WHITE-BROWED BOOBOOK .  Well-wooded savanna, gallery forest, wooded ravines, villages.  Lowlands of w,sw,n Madagascar.
Ninox philippensis   PHILIPPINE BOOBOOK .  Rain forest.  Philippine Is. of Luzon, Polillo Is., Ticao, Masbate, Marinduque, Panay, Guimaras, Negros, Bohol, Leyte, Siquijor, Mindoro, Cebu, Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu Arch. and Lubang.

Ninox ochracea  OCHRE-BELLIED BOOBOOK.  Dense humid forest.  Sulawesi.
Ninox squamipila  MOLUCCAN BOOBOOK.  Forest.

The two groups are vocally distinct and may be separate species.
 N. s. natalis.  CHRISTMAS BOOBOOK.  Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
 N. s. squamipila.  MOLUCCAN BOOBOOK.  Moluccas on Halmahera, Ternate, Bacan, Buru and Seram, and the Tanimbar Islands.

Ninox theomacha  JUNGLE BOOBOOK.  Humid forest.  Lowlands to 2000 m in w Papuan is. on Waigeo and Misool; New Guinea, the D'Entrecasteaux Arch. and Tagula and Rossel islands in the Louisiade Arch.
Ninox meeki  MANUS BOOBOOK.  Forest.  Manus I. in the Admiralty Is. (n Bismarck Arch).
Ninox punctulata  SPECKLED BOOBOOK.  Open woodland, farmlands.  Sulawesi, incl. Kabaena, Muna and Butung islands.
Ninox variegata  BISMARCK BOOBOOK.  Forest.  New Hanover, New Ireland and New Britain islands in the e Bismarck Arch.
Ninox odiosa  RUSSET BOOBOOK.  Forest.  New Britain I. in the se Bismarck Arch.

Ninox jacquinoti  SOLOMON ISLANDS BOOBOOK.  Forest.  Solomon Is. incl. Bougainville, and possibly Normanby and Tagula islands off se New Guinea.
Uroglaux dimorpha  PAPUAN BOOBOOK.  Forest.  Lowlands to 1500 m of New Guinea and Yapen I.
*Sceloglaux albifacies  LAUGHING OWL.  Probably extinct; formerly on North and South is.
of New Zealand.
Pseudoscops grammicus  JAMAICAN OWL.  Open woodland, open country.  Jamaica.

Asio stygius  STYGIAN OWL.  Forest.  Locally in lowlands and mts. to 3000 m in ne Sinaloa, nw Durango, Guerrero, Veracruz, Chiapas, Cozumel I., Guatemala, Belize and nc Nicaragua; Cuba incl. Isle of Pines, Hispaniola incl. Gonâve I., Colombia, w,s Venezuela, Ecuador, Amazonian, c,se Brazil, ne Bolivia, Paraguay and nw,ne Argentina.
Asio otus  LONG-EARED OWL.  Coniferous and mixed forest, second growth.  From British Isles and c Scandinavia e across nw,c Russia and c Siberia to upper Lena R. and Sea of Okhotsk, and s to Azores, Canary Is., nw Africa from Morocco to Tunisia, n Mediterranean region, Turkey, Cyprus, Near East, nw Iran, (absent between Caspian and Aral seas) n Afghanistan, n Pakistan, n India, w,n China, se Siberia, Korea and Japan (Hokkaido to c Honshu).  From s,e British Columbia, n Yukon, sw Mackenzie, n Saskatchewan, and from c Manitoba e across s Canada to Prince Edward I. and Nova Scotia, and s to nw Baja Calif., s Arizona, s New Mexico, w,c Texas, c Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and from c Illinois e to s New York and New England.
Asio abyssinicus  ABYSSINIAN OWL.  Forest, especially Podocarpus.  Highlands in w,c Ethiopia, c Kenya, extreme cw Uganda, Rwanda and extreme ce Zaire.  Often treated as a subspecies of A. otus.
Asio madagascariensis  MADAGASCAR OWL.  Forest.  Lowlands to 1800 m of Madagascar.
Asio clamator  STRIPED OWL.  Savanna, humid forest edge, woodland.  Locally in lowlands to 1600 m on Gulf-Caribbean slope in n Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, Pacific slope in El Salvador, both slopes of Costa Rica and Panama, and from n,c,e Colombia, n,se Venezuela, Tobago and Guianas s to se Peru, n,e Bolivia, c,e,se Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and n Argentina.  J.T. Marshall (pers. comm.) considers this species to be a Pseudoscops.
Asio flammeus  SHORT-EARED OWL.  Open country, tundra, marsh, grassland, savanna, moors, montane forest.  From Iceland, British Isles and Scandinavia e across n Russia and n Siberia to Anadyrland and Kamchatka Pen., and s to c Europe, s Russia, ne Mongolia, s Siberia and ne China; Hawaiian Is. w to Kauai; Pohnpei in the e Caroline Is.; w,c,ne N. America from n Alaska, n Yukon, n Mackenzie, c Keewatin, n Quebec, n Labrador and Newfoundland s to e Aleutian Is., s Alaska, s Calif., n Nevada, Utah, ne Colorado, and from Kansas e across ec U.S. to w Kentucky,
n Virginia and New Jersey; Greater Antilles in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico; locally in mts., 500-4000 m, from Colombia, n Venezuela, Guyana and Surinam s through Ecuador, nw,s Peru (incl. coastal), c Bolivia, se Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego; Galapagos, Juan Fernandez and Falkland islands.
Asio capensis  MARSH OWL.  Grassland, marsh.  Locally in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegambia, s Mali, s Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, c,e Angola, s,e Zaire, s Chad, se Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, ne Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe s to s S. Africa.  Lowlands to 1800 m of Madagascar.

Nesasio solomonensis  FEARFUL OWL.  Forest.  Solomon Is. on Bougainville, Choiseul and Santa Isabel islands in the Solomon Islands.

Sibley's Sequence - 15a