About Megascops cooperi (Ridgway, 1878)
The Pacific screech owl, scientifically named Megascops cooperi (Ridgway, 1878), is a medium-sized species in the Megascops genus. It has prominent "ear" tufts and bright yellow eyes. The nominate subspecies measures 23 to 26 cm (9.1 to 10.2 in) in length and weighs 145 to 175 g (5.1 to 6.2 oz). Its facial disc is pale gray, with a white and blackish border. Its crown and upperparts are pale tawny gray, with dusky and black vermiculation. Two pale lines are visible on its closed wing. Its underparts are paler off-white, with a darker herringbone pattern. The subspecies M. c. lambi is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long and weighs 115 to 130 g (4.1 to 4.6 oz). It shares the nominate subspecies' coloration, with the addition of dark bars and streaks on the crown. The more northern subspecies of Pacific screech owl, M. c. lambi, occurs only on the Pacific slope of Oaxaca, Mexico. The nominate subspecies ranges from eastern Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, south along the Pacific slope through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, to northwestern Costa Rica. In the southern portion of its range, it can also be found on the upper Caribbean slope. The Pacific screech owl lives in a wide variety of vegetation communities, including swamp forest, mangroves, arid and semi-arid woodland, scrub, open country with scattered trees and cacti, and secondary forest. In terms of elevation, it occurs from sea level up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Oaxaca and 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in Costa Rica, though it is most commonly found at much lower elevations.
