Owls are found on all continents except Antarctica. Owls are divided into two families: the typical owls, Strigidae; and the barn-owls, Tytonidae. They range in size from 13-70 cm. Owls do not construct nests, but rather look for a sheltered nesting site or an abandoned nest in trees, underground burrows, or in buildings, barns and caves.
Owls are solitary and nocturnal. They hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds though a few species specialize in hunting fish. Most hunt for prey only in the darkness. Much of the owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise. They are very quiet in flight plus they have dull colors. Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye. The facial disc helps to funnel the sound of prey to their ears. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as with other birds, and they must turn their entire head to change views. Owls can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270 degrees in either direction. The female is usually larger than the male.
Owl species can be found on these web pages:
New World Owls, Old World Owls, Barn Owls, Eagle-Owls, Pygmy-Owls, Scops-Owls
Genus Otus
Otus owls are small and agile. They usually are have brown or gray upperparts and lighter underparts. Some species have grayish-brown or reddish-brown morphs. The are mainly Old World owls.
Owl,_African Scops- Otus senegalensis Found: Africa
The African Scops-Owl has gray or brown plumage. The plumage is finely streaked and vermiculated, resembling tree back and the owl is thus well camouflaged. They have small ear tufts.
Similar to: Eurasian Scops-Owl. Eurasian Scops-Owl is slightlly larger than African Scops-Owl . African Scops-Owl is more vocal.
Image by: 1) Arno Meintjes 2) Johann Snyman 3) Bernard Dupont 4) Nik_Borrow - EthiopiaSimilar to: Eurasian Scops-Owl. Eurasian Scops-Owl is slightlly larger than African Scops-Owl . African Scops-Owl is more vocal.
Owl,_Andaman Scops- Otus balli Found: Andaman Islands, India
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Balaji Venkatesh
Owl,_Anjouan_Scops- Otus capnodes Found: Comoro Islands - east Afrcian coast
The Anjouan scops owl occurs in gray and rufous morphs and has very small ear tufts compared to other scops owls. The gray form is sooty grey with fine buff bars on the head and neck, a dark brown face with fine streaks and brown underparts with very fine brown streaks and vermiculations. The rufous form is browner and the marking contrast more with the plumage.
Image by: 1, 2) Paul_van_Giersbergen
Owl,_Arabian_Scops- Otus pamelae Found: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen
Image by: 1) Tommy_Pedersen
Owl,_Biak_Scops- Otus beccarii Found: east of New Guinea
The Biak Scops-Owl has densely barred brown upperparts; paler brown or rich rufous underparts with fine barring.
Image by: 1) del_hoyo
Owl,_Collared Scops- Otus lettia Found: south Asia
The Collared Scops-Owl has gray or brown plumage; pale gray or brown collar; large head and ear tufts;
Image by: 1) The Belurs, 2) HYLA 2009 3) Koshy Koshy
Owl,_Comoro_Scops- also Karthals Scops-Owl Otus pauliani Found: Comoro Islands off east coast Africa
The Karthala scops owl lacks ear tufts and come in two color forms, a light morph and a dark morph. The light morph has dark grayish-brown upperparts with fine barring and pale spots along the scapulars; reddish-buff f with a dense pattern of fine barring on the flight feathers and tail. The dark morph has mainly dark chocolate brown plumage.
Image by: 1) Markus_Lagerqvist
Owl,_Enggano_Scops- Otus enganensis Found: Enggano Island, Indonesia
Image by: 1) Bram_Demeulemeester
Owl,_European_Scops- also Eurasian Scops-Owl Otus scops Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
The Eurasian Scops-Owl has gray-brown or rufous-brown morphs. The plumage is finely streaked and vermiculated, resembling tree back and the owl is thus well camouflaged. It has medium sized ear tufts.
Similar to: African Scops-Owl. Eurasian Scops-Owl is slightlly larger than African Scops-Owl . African Scops-Owl is more vocal.
Image by: 1) Edgar_Barany_C 2) Alexandre_Roux 3) Bohus_CícelSimilar to: African Scops-Owl. Eurasian Scops-Owl is slightlly larger than African Scops-Owl . African Scops-Owl is more vocal.
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Owl,_Everett's Scops- Otus everetti Found: Philippines
Image by: 1) pinay06 2) Bram Demeulemeester
Owl,_Flammulated Otus flammeolus Found: mountain pine forests of western North America
Similar to: Western Screech-Owl. Western Screeh-Owl has yellow eyes, Flammulated Owl does not. This might not really belong in Otus.
Image by: 1) Dave Menke, USFWS 2) USGS 3) Sugarbear96 4) Jerry Oldenettel - New Mexico
1) Fledgling 2) Gray phase 3, 4) Red Phase
Owl,_Flores_Scops- Otus alfredi Found: Flores, Indonesia
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans 2) Peter_Ericsson
Owl,_Giant_Scops- Otus gurneyi Found: Philippines
The Giant Scops-Owl has reddish-brown upperparts with black streaks; reddish-brown facial disk with narrow black edge; white streaks above eyes with prominent ear tufts.
Image by: 1) Philippine_Post 2) Shankar S
Owl,_Indian_Scops- Otus bakkamoena Found: southern Asia
The Indain Scops-Owl has brown or gray upperparts with faint buff spotting; buff underparts with some streaking.
Image by: 1) Shankar 2) Koshy_Koshy 3) Ian_Banner
Owl,_Japanese_Scops- Otus semitorques Found: China, Japan, Korea, Russia
Image by: 1) Nial_Moores
Owl,_Javan_Scops- Otus angelinae Found: Java (Indonesia)
Image by: 1) James_Eaton
Owl,_Luzon_Scops- Otus longicornis Found: Luzon of Philippines
Image by: 1) Philippine_Postal_Corporation 2) Bram_Demeulemeester
Owl,_Madagascar Scops- Rainforest Scops-Owl Otus rutilus Found: Madagascar
Similar to: Torotoroka Scops-Owl. The Madagascar Scops-Owl likes moist areas; the Torotoroka Scops-Owl likes drier areas.
Image by: 1) Bernard Dupont 2, 3) Dick Daniels - Kirindy Forest, Madagascar
Owl,_Mantanani_Scops- Otus mantananensis Found: small islands between Borneo and the Philippines.
The Mantanani Scop-Owl has brown upperparts; oaler underparts; buff facial disk with narrow dark border.
Image by: 1, 2) Eric_Gropp
Owl,_Mayotte_Scops- Otus mayottensis Found: Mayotte Island in the Comoros Archipelago, northwest of Madagascar
The Mayotte Scops-Owl has brown upperparts with faint light spots; paler brown underparts.
Image by: 1) Markus_Lagerqvist 2) Alan_Van_Norman
Owl,_Mentawai_Scops- Otus mentawi Found: islands of Mentawai, off west Sumatra, Indonesia
Image by: 1) Filip_Verbelen
Owl,_Mindanao_Scops- Otus mirus Found: Mindanao, Philippines
Image by: 1) Wim_Heylen 2) Leif_Gabrielsen
Owl,_Mindoro_Scops- Otus mindorensis Found: Mindoro, Philippines
Image by: 1) Ron_Hutchinson
Owl,_Moheli_Scops- Otus moheliensis Found: island of Moheli of the Comoro Islands - off east coast Africa
The Moheli Scops-Owl has two morphs. The rufous morph has rufous-brown plumage; weakly marked with dark streaks and bars. The brown morph has a darker brown plumage; boldy marked with streaks and vermiculations.
Image by: 1) Simon Fournier
Owl,_Moluccan Scops- Otus magicus Found: Indonesia
Similar to: Sulawesi Scops-Owl. Sulawesi Scops-Owl has more white on underparts than the Moluccan Scops-Owl.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Francesco Veronesi
Owl,_Mountain Scops- Otus spilocephalus Found: Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia
The Mountain Scops-Owl has dark brown upperparts; light spots on scapulars (shoulder); buffy facial disk; light buffy underparts; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1, 2) Hiyashi Haka - Taiwan 3, 4) Alex White - Taiwan 
Owl,_Negros_Scops- Otus nigrorum Found: island of Negros (Philippines)
Image by: 1) Philippine_Post 2) characters 3) Pete_Morris
Owl,_Nicobar_Scops- Otus alius Found: Nicobar Islands of India
Image by: 1) Bandana_Arora_Aul 2) Jainy_Kuriakose
2) Rufous morph
Owl,_Oriental_Scops- Otus sunia Found: south Asia
The Oriental Scops-Owl has gray and rufous morphs; white scapular stripe.
Image by: 1) Hiyashi_Haka 2) gailhampshire
Owl,_Palawan_Scops- Otus fuliginosus Found: Philippines
Image by: 1) Pete_Morris 2) Yann_Muzika
Owl,_Pallid_Scops- also Striated Scops-Owl Otus brucei Found: Asia
Image by: 1) Scops 2) Sumeet_Moghe 3) Sergey_Yeliseev
Owl,_Pemba_Scops- Otus pembaensis Found: Tanzania
The Pemba Scops-Owl has two morphs. Rufous morph has bright rich rufous plumage. Brown morph has pale rufous-brown plumage.
Image by: 1) Jacques_Erard 2) Munir_Virani
Owl,_Philippine Scops- Otus megalotis Found: Philippine Islands
Image by: 1) Zach Feinberg 2) Doing Big Year - Negros, Philippines
2) Subspecies Otus Negrium
Owl,_Rajah Scops- Otus brookii Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans 2) Lip Kee 3) Seshadri_KS - Sumatra
2) Juvenile
Owl,_Reddish_Scops- Otus rufescens Found: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Image by: 1) Biodiversity_Heritage_Library 2) Wong_Tsu_Shi - Malaysia 3) Janos_Oloh - Indonesia 4) Con_Foley - Malaysia
Owl,_Rinjani_Scops- Otus jolandae Found: Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia and neighbouring Gili islands.
Image by: 1) Sangster_King 2) Sangster_King
Owl,_Ryukyu_Scops- Otus elegans Found: Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan and other islands
The Ryukyu Scops-Owl has mainly rufous-brown plumage; brown face disk; cinnamon facial ruff; olive-gray bill; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) characters 2) Pete_Morris
Owl,_Sandy Scops- Otus icterorhynchus Found: Africa
The Sandy Scops-Owl has mainly pale rufous-brown plumage; yellow bill, eyes; pale shoulder stripe.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Kerulemans
Owl,_Sangihe_Scops- Otus collari Found: Sangihe Islands of Indonesia
Image by: 1) Hanom_Bashari
Owl,_Sao_Tome_Scops- Otus hartlaubi Found: São Tomé Island off west equatorial Africa
The Sao Tome Scops-Owl is the only owl on the island other than the Barn Owl.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow
Owl,_Serendib_Scops- Otus thilohoffmanni Found: Sri Lanka
The Serendib Scops-Owl has reddish-brown upperparts; paler underparts; fine black spots all over. Unlike the other two scops owls on Sri Lanka, it does not have ear tufts and its facial disc is only weakly defined.
Image by: 1) Peter_Wachtershauser 2) David_Cook
Owl,_ Seychelles Scops- Otus insularis Found: Seychelles islands which is northeast of Madagascar
The Seychelles Scops-Owl has rufous-brown upperparts; rufous face; rufous underparts with dark streaks; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 
Owl,_Simeulue_Scops- Otus umbra Found: the island of Simeulue, Indonesia
Image by: 1) Bram_Demeulemeester
Owl,_Socotra_Scops- Otus socotranus Found: island of Socotra - part of Yemen
The Socotraq Scops-Owl has sandy-gray upperparts; paler underparts with darker shaft streaks and fine dark barring.
Image by: 1) Henrik_Gronvold
Owl,_Sokoke Scops- Otus ireneae Found: Kenya, Tanzania
The Sokoke Scops-Owl has rufous-brown or gray plumage. It is the smallest of the scops owls.
Image by: 1) Steve Garvie - Kenya 2) Pierangelo Cassinari - Kenya
Owl,_Sulawesi Scops- Otus manadensis Found: Indonesia
Similar to: Moluccan Scops-Owl. Sulawesi Scops-Owl has more white on underparts than the Moluccan Scops-Owl.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Francesco Veronesi 3) AS_Kono
Owl,_Sunda Scops- Otus lempiji Found: Malay Peninsula of southeast Asia
The Sunda Scops-Owl has brown specked with white and black on the upperparts.
Image by: 1) Tim_Ellis 2) budak 
Owl,_Torotoroka Scops- Otus madagascariensis Found: Madagascar zz
Similar to: Madagascar Scops-Owl. The Madagascar Scops-Owl likes moist areas; the Torotoroka Scops-Owl likes drier areas.
Image by: 1) Charles_Sharp 2) David Cook 3) Zak_Pohlen
Owl,_Wallace's Scops- Otus silvicola Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Nolafryar
Owl,_White-fronted Scops- Otus sagittatus Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia
Image by: 1) JJ Harrison - Thailand 2) Jerry Oldenettel - Thailand
