Horned Owl

Information about Horned Owl

Horned owls

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	*Bubo* Duméril, 1806

Species

See text

Synonyms

Nyctea Stephens, 1826
Ophthalmomegas Dejaut, 1911
and see text

The horned owls (America) and eagle-owls (Eurasia) are the genus Bubo, containing more than 20 species of typical owls which are found in many parts of the world. Horned owls are among the largest owls.

The species in taxonomic order are:

Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus
South American Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus nacurutu
Magellanic Horned Owl, Bubo magellanicus
Eurasian Eagle-owl, Bubo bubo
Rock Eagle-owl, Bubo bengalensis
Pharaoh Eagle-owl, Bubo ascalaphus
Cape Eagle-owl, Bubo capensis
Mackinder's Eagle-owl, Bubo mackinderi - recently split from B. capensis
Spotted Eagle-owl, Bubo africanus
Grayish Eagle-owl, Bubo cinerascens
Fraser's Eagle-owl, Bubo poensis
Usambara Eagle-owl, Bubo vosseleri
Spot-bellied Eagle-owl, Bubo nipalensis
Barred Eagle-owl, Bubo sumatranus
Shelley's Eagle-owl, Bubo shelleyi
Verreaux's Eagle-owl, Bubo lacteus
Dusky Eagle-owl, Bubo coromandus
Akun Eagle-owl, Bubo leucostictus
Philippine Eagle-owl, Bubo philippensis

mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Olsen et al. 2002) supports the decision to consider the Snowy Owl ("Nyctea" scandica) a specialised horned owl and moving it into Bubo:

Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus

Similarly, the four fish-owls previously in the genus Ketupa were provisionally moved into Bubo too:

Blakiston's Fish-owl, Bubo blakistoni
Brown Fish-owl, Bubo zeylonensis
Tawny Fish-owl, Bubo flavipes
Buffy Fish-owl, Bubo ketupu

However, the data of Olsen et al. (2002) suggests that to make the genus monophyletic, the Scotopelia fishing-owls would also need to be included in Bubo:

Pel's Fishing-owl, Bubo peli
Rufous Fishing-owl, Bubo ussheri
Vermiculated Fishing-owl, Bubo bouvieri

On the other hand, the genus now becomes quite large and ill-defined. Another possibility, recognizing that Bubo in the expanded sense seems to consist of 2 clades, would be to unite the fish- and fishing-owls in Ketupa and move some aberrant Bubo species like the Barred Eagle-owl into this genus too (Olsen et al. 2002).

Fossil record

The supposed Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owls "Bubo" incertus and "Bubo" arvernensis are now placed in the fossil barn-owl genera Nocturnavis and Necrobyas, respectively. "Bubo" leptosteus is now recognized as primitive strigid in the genus Minerva (formerly Protostrix). "Bubo" poirreiri from the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene of Saint-Gérard-le-Puy, France, is now placed in Mioglaux.

Named fossils retained in this genus are:

Bubo florianae (Late Miocene of Csákvár, Hungary) - tentatively placed here
Bubo binagadensis (Late Pleistocene of Binagady, Azerbaijan)

Undescribed fossils of prehistoric horned owls have been recovered from Late Pliocene deposits at Senèze, France (Lambrecht 1933:616), and from Late Pleistocene sediments of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico (Steadman et al. 1994). In addition, some paleosubspecies have been described. The Pleistocene Sinclair Owl from California, Bubo sinclairi, may be a paleosubspecies of the Great Horned Owl (Howard 1947), while Bubo insularis is probably a junior synonym of a Brown Fish-owl paleosubspecies (Mlíkovskı 2002). UMMP V31030, a coracoid from the Rexroad Formation (Late Pliocene) of Kansas (USA), cannot be conclusively assgned to either the present genus or Strix (Feduccia 1970).

On the other hand, the supposed fossil heron "Ardea" lignitum (Late Pliocene of Germany) was apparently an owl and close to this genus or more probably actually belongs here (Olson 1985:167).

References

Feduccia, J. Alan (1970): Some birds of prey from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas. Auk 87(4): 795-797. PDF fulltext
Howard, Hildegarde (1947): A preliminary survey of trends in avian evolution from Pleistocene to recent time. Condor 49(1): 10-13. PDF fulltext
Lambrecht, Kálmán (1933): Handbuch der Palaeornithologie. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin.
Mlíkovskı, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. ISBN 80-901105-3-8 PDF fulltext
Olsen, Jery; Wink, Michael; Sauer-Gürth, Heidi & Trost, Susan (2002): A new Ninox owl from Sumba, Indonesia. Emu 102(3): 223-231. doi:10.1071/MU02006 PDF fulltext
Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The fossil record of birds. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 79-238. Academic Press, New York.
Steadman, David W.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin; Johnson, Eileen & Guzman, A. Fabiola (1994): New Information on the Late Pleistocene Birds from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Condor 96(3): 577-589. PDF fulltext

B. virginianus

Binomial name
Bubo virginianus
(Gmelin, 1788)

Distribution

Subspecies
see text
Synonyms

Strix virginiana
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Strigiformes
Wagler, 1830

Families

Strigidae
Tytonidae
Ogygoptyngidae (fossil)
Palaeoglaucidae (fossil)
Protostrigidae (fossil)
Sophiornithidae (fossil)
Synonyms

Strigidae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist Owls
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Strigidae
Vigors, 1825

Genera

some 25, see text
Synonyms

Striginae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist

True owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae).
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André Marie Constant Duméril (1774 - 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology. His son Auguste Duméril was also a zoologist.
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s 860s 870s - 880s - 890s 900s 910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1790s 1800s 1810s - 1820s - 1830s 1840s 1850s
1823 1824 1825 - 1826 - 1827 1828 1829

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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20th century - 21st century
1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1908 1909 1910 - 1911 - 1912 1913 1914

Year 1911 (MCMXI
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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B. virginianus

Binomial name
Bubo virginianus
(Gmelin, 1788)

Distribution

Subspecies
see text
Synonyms

Strix virginiana
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B. virginianus nacurutu

Binomial name
Bubo virginianus nacurutu
(Vieillot, 1817)

South American Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus nacurutu
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B. magellanicus

Binomial name
Bubo magellanicus
(Lesson, 1828)

The Magellanic Horned Owl or Lesser Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) is a large owl of the genus Bubo
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B. bubo

Binomial name
Bubo bubo
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of horned owl resident in much of Europe and Asia.
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B. bengalensis

Binomial name
Bubo bengalensis
(Franklin, 1831)

The Rock Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis is a species of large horned owl found in South Asia.
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B. ascalaphus

Binomial name
Bubo ascalaphus
Savigny, 1809

The Pharaoh Eagle-owl (Bubo ascalaphus) is a species of owl in the Strigidae family.
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B. capensis

Binomial name
Bubo capensis
Smith, 1834

The Cape Eagle-owl (Bubo capensis) is a species of owl in the Strigidae family.
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B. africanus

Binomial name
Bubo africanus
Temminck, 1821

Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) is a species of the Horned owls.
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Bubo cinerascens
Guérin-Méneville, 1843

The Greyish Eagle-owl or Vermiculated Eagle-owl, Bubo cinerascens, is a rather large owl of Africa.
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B. poensis

Binomial name
Bubo poensis
Fraser, 1853

The Fraser's Eagle-owl (Bubo poensis) is a species of owl in the Strigidae family.
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B. vosseleri

Binomial name
Bubo vosseleri
Reichenow, 1908

The Usambara Eagle-owl, Grand-duc Des Usambara, or Búho De Usambara (Bubo vosseleri
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B. nipalensis

Binomial name
Bubo nipalensis
Hodgson, 1836

The Spot-bellied Eagle-owl, also known as the Forest Eagle-owl, Bubo nipalensis
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B. sumatranus

Binomial name
Bubo sumatranus
(Raffles, 1822)

The Barred Eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus) is a species of owl in the Strigidae family.
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