The Zoochat Photographic Guide To Owls

Strix


Spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo)

The range of this species extends throughout Indochina and the Malaysian peninsula, with patchily scattered populations found on Sumatra, Java and Palawan; entirely absent from Borneo.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. s. seloputo - photo by @devilfish

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S. s. baweana
S. s. wiepkeni


Mottled Wood Owl (Strix ocellata)

The range of this species extends throughout the Indian subcontinent, from the Himalayas east to lower Bengal and south to the Nilgiris, with a disjunct population in western Burma.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. o. ocellata
S. o. grandis
S. o. grisescens

Photograph by @Junklekitteb

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Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica)

The range of this species extends patchily throughout southern Asia, from peninsular India and Sri Lanka, east to Burma and into Indochina and the Malaysian Peninsula, extending as far southeast as Sumatra and Borneo; absent from Java and Bali.

Five subspecies recognized:

S. l. leptogrammica
S. l. vaga
S. l. maingayi - photo by @Chlidonias

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S. l. indranee - photo by @TeaLovingDave

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S. l. myrtha


Nias Wood Owl (Strix niasensis)

Endemic to Nias Island, off northwest Sumatra.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Bartel's Wood Owl (Strix bartelsi)

Endemic to western Java.

Monotypic.

Photo by @ThylacineAlive

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Mountain Wood Owl (Strix newarensis)

The range of this species extends throughout the Himalayas from Pakistan through Nepal into northern and central Burma, and from here into Laos, northern Thailand, northern Vietnam and southeast China .

Four subspecies recognised:

S. n. newarensis
S. n. laotiana
S. n. ticehursti
S. n. caligata

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

The range of this species extends throughout western and central Eurasia, from the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco in the south and Scandinavia in the north through the Middle East and central Asia to western Siberia in the east; localised populations exist in the Himalayas of northern Pakistan and Turkestan.

Eight subspecies are recognised:

S. a. aluco - photo by @Zaz

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S. a. mauretanica
S. a. sylvatica - photo by @ThylacineAlive

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S. a. sibiriae
S. a. sanctinicolai - photo by @fofo

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S. a. wilkonskii
S. a. harmsi
S. a. biddulphi


Himalayan Wood Owl (Strix nivicola)

The range of this species extends throughout the Himalayas from Himachal Pradesh through Nepal and southeast Tibet, and from here into southern and eastern China, northwest Burma and Taiwan.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. n. nivicola - photo by @Himimomi

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S. n. ma
S. n. yamadae - photo by @Deer Forest

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Desert Tawny Owl (Strix hadorami)

The range of this species extends throughout eastern and southern Israel into Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea coastline, and patchily throughout the southern and eastern Arabian Peninsula.

Monotypic.

Photo by @alexkant

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Omani Owl (Strix butleri)

The range of this species is restricted to the eastern Arabian Peninsula from northern Oman to the UAE, and into Iran and southern Pakistan.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
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African Wood Owl (Strix woodfordii)

The range of this species extends throughout much of Africa south of the Sahel zone, from Senegal east to Ethiopia, and south to Angola and throughout east Africa to the Cape.

Four subspecies recognised:

S. w. woodfordii - photo by @Tomek

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S. w. umbrina
S. w. nigricantior
S. w. nuchalis


Mottled Owl (Strix virgata)

The range of this species extends throughout much of South America, from northern Colombia east of the Andes, eastern Ecuador, Venezuela and Trinidad south through Amazonian Peru and Brazil to Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina.

Four subspecies recognised:

S. v. virgata
S. v. macconnelli
S. v. superciliaris - photo by @devilfish

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S. v. borelliana - photo by @devilfish

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Mexican Wood Owl (Strix squamulata)

The range of this species extends throughout coastal Mexico, south through Central America as far as Panama and northernmost Colombia.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. s. squamulata - photo by @Adam Khor

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S. s. tamaulipensis
S. s. centralis - photo by @Maguari

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Rufous-legged Owl (Strix rufipes)

The range of this species is restricted to south-central Chile and southern Argentina, south to Tierra del Fuego.

Monotypic; the only photographs of this species in the Zoochat gallery represent hybrids with Strix chacoensis such as the following photograph by @KevinB

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Chaco Owl (Strix chacoensis)

The range of this species extends throughout the Chaco of southern Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay.

Monotypic; as noted above many of the photographs of Chaco Owl in the Zoochat gallery are of partial hybrid origin - however pure individuals are present in captivity.

Photo by @Goura

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Rusty-barred Owl (Strix hylophila)

The range of this species extends throughout southeast Brazil, south through eastern and southern Paraguay into northernmost north-east Argentina.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Patrick87

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Rufous-banded Owl (Strix albitarsis)

The range of this species extends patchily throughout much of the Andes, from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador to northernmost north-west Peru, and from northern Peru south to Bolivia.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Black-and-White Owl (Strix nigrolineata)

The range of this species extends from central Mexico south through Central America to northern Colombia, northwest Venezuela and western Ecuador.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Black-banded Owl (Strix huhula)

The range of this species extends throughout much of South America east of the Andes, from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador south through the Amazon to Paraguay, northern Argentina and southeast Brazil.

Two subspecies recognised:

S. h. huhula - photo by @Bwassa

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S. h. albomarginata - photo by @devilfish

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Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis)

The range of this species comprises two distinct populations; the first extends throughout western North America from British Columbia south to California; the second extends from Arizona, New Mexico and southwest Texas to central Mexico.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. o. occidentalis
S. o. caurina - photo by @Ituri

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S. o. lucida - photo by @branta68

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Fulvous Owl (Strix fulvescens)

The range of this species is restricted to a small portion of Central America, from southern Mexico in the west to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in the east.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Barred Owl (Strix varia)

The range of this species extends across much of North America east of the Rockies, south to Florida and south Mexico; a population in western North America extends from British Colombia to northern California, and is linked to the eastern population by a narrow belt cutting southeast through the Rockies towards the Great Lakes.

Four subspecies recognised:

S. v. varia - photo by @Mr Wrinkly

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S. v. georgica - photo by @geomorph

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S. v. helveola - photo by @geomorph

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S. v. sartorii


Sichuan Wood Owl (Strix davidii)

Endemic to the Sichuan Mountains and surrounding area.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Ural Owl (Strix uralensis)

The range of this species extends throughout northern Eurasia, from Scandinavia through northern Russia and Siberia to Korea and Japan; localised disjunct populations occur in central and eastern Europe and in the Balkans.

Eight subspecies recognised:

S. u. uralensis - photo by @Elephas Maximus

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S. u. liturata - photo by @Dormitator

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S. u. macroura - photo by @TeaLovingDave

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S. u. yenisseensis
S. u. nikolskii
S. u. fuscescens
S. u. hondoensis
S. u. japonica


Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa)

The range of this species extends across the boreal zones of the Holarctic forest belt from Fennoscandia through Siberia to the Kamchatka peninsula, south to Lithuania, northern Mongolia and China and Sakhalin; across the Bering Sea the range extends from Alaska and northern Canada east to southwest Quebec, and south through the Rocky Mountains to northern California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Minnesota.

Two subspecies recognised:

S. n. nebulosa - photo by @snowleopard

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S. n. lapponica - photo by @chris roberts

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Jubula


Maned Owl (Jubula lettii)

The range of this species extends across southern West Africa into the Congo Basin and surrounding areas of central Africa.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
Lophostrix


Crested Owl (Lophostrix cristata)

The range of this species extends patchily from southern Mexico through Central America into northern South America as far south as Peru, northern Bolivia and western Brazil.

Three subspecies recognised:

L. c. cristata
L. c. wedeli
L. c. stricklandi

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
Surnia


Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula)

The range of this species extends across the boreal zones of Eurasia and North America, from Scandinavia east through Siberia to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and northern China, into Alaska and east from here to Labrador.

Three subspecies recognised:

S. u. ulala - photo by @SMR

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S. u. tianschanica
S. u. caparoch - photo by @Pleistohorse

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Mr. Zootycoon said:
Are there any pure ones in Europe?
Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, no - and the situation is clouded by the fact that a lot of places try to pass off pure Chaco as Rufous-legged Owl, which then leads to collections which have impure Rufous bringing Chaco in to breed with their birds..... which then increases the impurity. Vicious cycle, in other words.

At this stage we basically have "grey" Rufous-legged which do contain some pure blood, but which increasingly have more and more Chaco blood with each generation, along with impure and pure Chaco being claimed as Rufous-legged. The visual difference is getting harder and harder to parse, but I know the animal at Olmense does contain some true Rufous-legged blood - which is why I chose to use a photograph of this individual as a placeholder image :p

The irony is that although Rufous-legged and Chaco are very similar-looking other than their colouration and call, they are not actually the closest relatives of one another - the latter is the sister species of the Rusty-barred Owl, as far as can be gathered!

Of course, I'd love to be proved wrong and have a full-blooded Rufous-legged in fine chestnut plumage pop up somewhere ;)
 
I've added photos of:

Dusky Eagle Owl: Dusky Eagle Owl (Bubo coromandus coromandus) | ZooChat (not a good photo by any means, but perhaps serviceable)

Two of gangeticus Indian Scops Owl: Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena gangeticus) | ZooChat and Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena gangeticus) | ZooChat

Jungle Owlet (malabaricum): Jungle Owlet (Glaucidium radiatum malabaricum) | ZooChat

And Rajah Scops Owl: Rajah Scops Owl (Otus brookii solokensis) | ZooChat

I also have a photo of indica Spotted Owlet but I'll only upload it if there are no others because it's not exactly excellent quality.

Also I have Little Owl Athene noctua plumipes from Mongolia, but there is no relevant gallery in which to upload it.
 
Glaucidium


Eurasian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinum)

The range of this species extends throughout central and northern Europe, eastward to eastern Siberia, the mouth of the Amur River and Sakhalin, south into Manchuria and northern China.

Two subspecies recognised:

G. p. passerinum - photo by @LaughingDove

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G. p. orientale


Pearl-spotted Owlet (Glaucidium perlatum)

The range of this species extends throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Gambia east to Ethiopia and western Somalia, and south to central Cape Province; from here, the range of the species extends to the west through Namibia into northwest Angola. The species is absent from the deserts and rainforests of central and southwest Africa.

Two subspecies recognised:

G. p. perlatum
G. p. licua - photo by @TeaLovingDave

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Red-chested Owlet (Glaucidum tephronotum)

The range of this species extends throughout West Africa from Liberia into the Congo Basin, and east to Uganda and western Kenya.

Four subspecies recognised:

G. t. tephronotum
G. t. pycrafti
G. t. medje
G. t. elgonense

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodei)

The range of this species extends from the western Himalayas, east into China and Taiwan and south throughout Indochina and the Malayan Peninsula into Sumatra and Borneo.

Four subspecies recognised:

G. b. brodei
G. b. pardalotum
G. b. sylvaticum
G. b. borneense

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Northern Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium californicum)

The range of this species extends throughout western North America from south Alaska and British Colombia south through the Rocky Mountains to California and Arizona, perhaps as far south as northernmost Mexico.

Three subspecies recognised:

G. c. californicum
G. c. swarthi
G. c. pinicola

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Cape Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium hoskinsii)

Endemic to the mountains of southern Baja California.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Mountain Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium gnoma)

The range of this species extends throughout the highlands of northern and central Mexico, probably as far north as the mountains of southernmost New Mexico and Arizona.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Cloud-Forest Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium nubicola)

The range of this species extends through the cloud forests on the Pacific slopes of the western Andes from Colombia to western Ecuador, perhaps as far south as northern Peru.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Guatemalan Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium cobanense)

The range of this species is restricted to a small portion of Central America, from southern Mexico to Guatemala and Honduras.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Costa Rican Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium costaricanum)

The range of this species extends from central Costa Rica to western Panama.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Cuban Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium siju)

Endemic to Cuba and Isla de la Juventud.

Two subspecies recognised:

G. s. siju
G. s. vittatum

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium sanchezi)

Endemic to the mountains of northeast Mexico from Tamaulipas to northern Hidalgo.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Colima Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium palmarum)

The range of this species extends throughout western Mexico along the Pacific coastline from central Sonora to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Central American Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium griseiceps)

The range of this species extends throughout southeast Mexico and Central America as far south as Panama.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Sick's Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium sicki)

The range of this species extends throughout southeast Brazil and adjacent eastern Paraguay, perhaps extending locally into northeastern Argentina.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Pernambuco Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium minutissimum)

The range of this species is restricted to patchy Atlantic forests within Pernambuco state in northeast Brazil.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Amazonian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium hardyi)

The range of this species extends throughout Amazonian South America, from Venezuela east through the Guianas to northeast Brazil, south to eastern Ecuador and Peru, central Brazil and northeast Bolivia.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Subtropical Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium parkeri)

The range of this species extends patchily throughout the eastern slopes of the Andes from southeast Ecuador to Peru and northern Bolivia.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Andean Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium jardinii)

The range of this species extends throughout the Andes of Venezuela, north-central Colombia and east-central Ecuador, south to central Peru.

Monotypic.

Photo by @toto98

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Yungas Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium bolivianum)

The range of this species extends throughout the eastern slopes of the Andes from northern Peru to Bolivia and northern Argentina.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Peruvian Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium peruanum)

The range of this species extends from western Ecuador south to southwest Peru and northernmost Chile.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Tomek

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Austral Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium nanum)

The range of this species extends throughout Argentine Patagonia from Rio Negro to Tierra del Fuego, and Chile from the Atacama Desert south to Tierra del Fuego.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum)

The range of this species extends throughout much of South America east of the Andes, from eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Guianas south through the Amazon to eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, eastern Brazil and central Argentina.

Seven subspecies recognised:

G. b. brasilianum
G. b. medianum
G. b. phaloenoides
G. b. duidae
G. b. olivaceum
G. b. ucayalae
G. b. stranecki

It is probable that the captive population of this species in Europe - and most likely elsewhere - represents a hybrid swarm of various subspecies and possibly species, given the large level of variation within this species and the close similarity various sympatric species bear to G. brasilianum. As such, there follows a selection of images depicting this species to represent the level of variation present within the captive population:

Photo by @Kakapo

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Photo by @Jackwow

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Photo by @AWP

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Photo by @Joker1706

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Photo by @devilfish

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Photo by @Maguari

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Ridgway's Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi)

The range of this species extends throughout the southwest USA into Mexico and Central America, south to the extreme northwest of Colombia.

Two subspecies recognised:

G. r. ridgwayi
G. r. cactorum

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Chaco Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium tucumanum)

The range of this species extends throughout Bolivian, Paraguayan and Argentine Chaco.

Two subspecies recognised:

G. t. tucomanum
G. t. pallens

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
A little surprising so few Glaucidium species are represented in the gallery.

Excellent job with this thread by the way!
 
My photo of the pygmy owl was taken in Zoo Simon Bolivar, Costa Rica. Depending of the taxonomic point of view, the Central American population is considered to be a subspecies (Glaucidium brasilianum ridgwayi) or a full species (Glaucidium ridgwayi). As it is listed as Glaucidium ridgwayi in this overview, my photo probably represents this species.
 
AWP said:
My photo of the pygmy owl was taken in Zoo Simon Bolivar, Costa Rica. Depending of the taxonomic point of view, the Central American population is considered to be a subspecies (Glaucidium brasilianum ridgwayi) or a full species (Glaucidium ridgwayi). As it is listed as Glaucidium ridgwayi in this overview, my photo probably represents this species.
Click to expand...

I already thought of this possibility, but on checking the entry for Ridgway's Pygmy Owl in the two books I am using for this overview found that the bird in your photograph lacks certain diagnostic features for this species (most particularly, large white areas on the outer scapulars forming a row of distinct blotchy spotting across the shoulders) and as such is unlikely to be this species.

As I already noted above, the fact that the Central and South American Glaucidium all look quite similar in appearance does rather muddy the issue :p when trying to decide which species to use your photograph for, it did occur to me that it was taken in the correct area for Glaucidium costaricanum to be a possibility, and the bird in question does look pretty good for this species; however, I couldn't rule out the possibility that Zoo Simon Bolivar had received genuine G. brasilianum so chose a more cautious approach.
 
@TeaLovingDave I'm sure it was signed as Glaucidium brasilianum in the zoo. I agree that is lacks certain features of Glaucidium ridgwayi, so let's keep it under the Brazilian one.
 
AWP said:
I'm sure it was signed as Glaucidium brasilianum in the zoo.
Click to expand...

The other complicating problem, of course, being that as I noted elsewhere I strongly suspect the captive population of brasilianum comprises a hybrid swarm of many different taxa :p so one cannot rule out a collection importing one species but labelling it with the more well-known name!
 
Taenioglaux


Jungle Owlet (Taenioglaux radiata)

The range of this species extends throughout the Indian subcontinent, from southern Nepal south into Bhutan and Bangladesh, throughout peninsular India barring the northwest and into Sri Lanka in the south.

Two subspecies recognised:

T. r. radiata
T. r. malabarica - Photo by @Chlidonias

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Chestnut-backed Owlet (Taenioglaux castanonota)

Endemic to south-central Sri Lanka.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Asian Barred Owlet (Taenioglaux cuculoides)

The range of this species extends throughout southern and eastern Asia, from the western Himalayas of northeast Pakistan, through the southern foothills of the Himalayas into Nepal, Bhutan, Assam and Burma, and across southeast China into Indochina in the south.

Five subspecies recognised:

T. c. cuculoides
T. c. rufescens
T. c. bruegeli - photo by @LaughingDove

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T. c. whitelyi - photo by @Himimomi

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T. c. persimile


Javan Owlet (Taenioglaux castanoptera)

Endemic to Java and Bali.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Sjoestedt's Owlet (Taenioglaux sjoestedti)

The range of this species extends throughout the Congo Basin, from Cameroon in the north south into Gabon and Congo, and east into the Central African Republic and DRC.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


African Barred Owlet (Taenioglaux capense)

The range of this species extends throughout much of southern Africa, from south Kenya to Mozambique and the eastern Cape, and through south-central Africa to Angola and Namibia.

Three subspecies recognised:

T. c. capense
T. c. ngamiense - Photo by @Maguari

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T. c. scheffleri


Chestnut Owlet (Taenioglaux castanea)

The range of this species is restricted to northeast Congo and southwest Uganda.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Etchecopar's Owlet (Taenioglaux etchecopari)

The range of this species is restricted to Liberia and the Ivory Coast.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Albertine Owlet (Taenioglaux albertina)

Endemic to the Albertine Rift of northeast Congo and northern Rwanda.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
Xenoglaux


Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi)

Endemic to the Rio Mayo valley in the eastern Andes of northern Peru.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
Micrathene


Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi)

The range of this species extends across the southwest USA, from southern Arizona into New Mexico and south Texas, and as far south as central Mexico and Baja California; the population on Socorro is possibly extinct.

Four subspecies recognised:

M. w. whitneyi - Photo by @ThylacineAlive

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M. w. idonea
M. w. sanfordi
M. w. graysoni
 
Athene


Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

The range of this species extends throughout western North America, south to Central America and into South America; populations in the north and west are patchy and largely restricted to the coast extending south to Tierra del Fuego, whilst the species is widely distributed throughout eastern South America from northern Brazil south to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

Fifteen subspecies recognised:

A. c. cunicularia - photo by @devilfish

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A. c. grallaria
A. c. hypugaea - photo by @Great Argus

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A. c. floridiana - photo by @Ituri

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A. c. troglodytes
A. c. rostrata
A. c. nanodes
A. c. brachyptera
A. c. tolinae - photo by @devilfish

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A. c. carriheri
A. c. juninensis - photo by @devilfish

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A. c. punensis
A. c. boliviana
A. c. minor
A. c. pichinchae


Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti)

Endemic to north-central peninsular India.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Little Owl (Athene noctua)

The range of this species extends throughout Eurasia, from the Iberian Peninsula north to Denmark and the Baltic States, and east through Asia Minor, central Asia and east Asia to China and Manchuria; populations extend south throughout North Africa to the Red Sea coast. Introduced in the British Isles and New Zealand.

Eight subspecies recognised:

A. n. noctua - photo by @Tomek

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A. n. vidalii - photo by @TeaLovingDave

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A. n. glaux - photo by @Zoo Tycooner FR

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A. n. orientalis
A. n. ludlowi
A. n. plumipes - photo by @Chlidonias

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A. n. indigena - photo by @Zaz

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A. n. bactriana - photo by @fofo

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Lilith Owlet (Athene lilith)

The range of this species extends throughout the Middle East, from southern Turkey and Cyprus in the north, through Syria and Israel into the Sinai Peninsula and Arabian Peninsula in the south.

Monotypic.

Photo by @alexkant

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Photo of a probably-impure individual by @ThylacineAlive

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Ethiopian Little Owl (Athene spilogastra)

The range of this species extends along the southwestern coastline of the Red Sea, from eastern Sudan into Eritrea, northeastern Ethiopia and Somalia.

Two subspecies recognised:

A. s. spilogastra
A. s. somaliensis

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Spotted Owlet (Athene brama)

The range of this species extends from southern Iran and Afghanistan, throughout the Indian subcontinent and into Indochina; absent from Sri Lanka and the Malaysian Peninsula.

Five subspecies recognised:

A. b. brama - photo by @gentle lemur

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A. b. indica - photo by @Chlidonias

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A. b. albida
A. b. ultra
A. b. pulchra - photo by @Chlidonias

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White-browed Owl (Athene superciliaris)

This species is endemic to northeast and southwest Madagascar.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
 
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An important supplementary note here; it is likely that the Lilith Owl individual photographed above by @ThylacineAlive - the last survivor of a bygone European captive population - is genetically impure to some extent, as personal communication and discussion on this subject has indicated that the aforementioned captive population contained some admixture with Athene noctua indigena and potentially A. n. bactriana, both due to imprecise aviculture and the fact that some degree of hybridisation may well occur naturally where A. lilith and A. noctua occur sympatrically.

This can be seen reasonably readily given the fact this individual is somewhat darker than is normal for A. lilith.

As such, if anyone has photographs of the species taken in the wild - or in one of the Israeli collections which keeps the species - this would be very useful for the purposes of this thread!

= Edit 10/12/2018 =

I have now added a photograph taken by @alexkant showing a more typical individual.
 
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