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Scops owls are typical owls (family Strigidae) mostly belonging to the genus ''Otus''. Approximately 45 living species are known, but new ones are frequently recognized and unknown ones are still being discovered every few years or so, especially in Indonesia. For most of the 20th century, this genus included the American screech owls, which are now again separated in ''Megascops'' based on a range of behavioral, biogeographical, morphological and DNA sequence data. ''Otus'' is the largest genus of owls in terms of number of species. Scops owls in the modern sense are restricted to the Old World. A single North American species, the flammulated owl, was provisionally placed in ''Otus'' and has now been moved to its own monotypic genus. See below for details. As usual for owls, female scops owls are usually larger than the males of their species, with owls of both sexes being compact in size and shape. All of the birds in this genus are small and agile. Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees. Some are polymorphic, occurring in a greyish- and a reddish-brown morph. ==Ecology and behaviour== Scops owls hunt from perches in semi-open landscapes. They prefer areas which contain old trees with hollows; these are home to their prey which includes insects, reptiles, small mammals such as bats and mice and other small birds. The owls will also eat earthworms, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates.〔 Scops owls have a good sense of hearing which helps them locate their prey in any habitat. They also possess well-developed raptorial claws and a curved bill, both of which are used for tearing their prey into pieces small enough to swallow easily. Scops owls are primarily solitary birds. Most species lay and incubate their eggs in a cavity nest that was originally made by another animal. During the incubation period, the male will feed the female. These birds are monogamous, with biparental care, and only fledge one young per year. The young of most scops owls are altricial to semialtricial. As opposed to screech owls, scops owls have only a single type of call. This consists of a series of whistles or high-pitched hoots, given with a frequency of 4 calls per second or less, or of a single, drawn-out whistle. Calls differ widely between species in type and pitch, and in the field are often the first indication of these birds' presence, as well as the most reliable means to distinguish between species. Some, like the recently described Serendib scops owl (''Otus thilohoffmanni''), were discovered because their vocalizations were unfamiliar to experts in bird-calls. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Scops owl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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