About Pulsatrix melanota (Tschudi, 1844)
The band-bellied owl (Pulsatrix melanota) is a fairly large owl, measuring 44 to 48 cm (17 to 19 in) in total length. Analysis of weights from 13 individuals of both sexes found weights ranging from 590 to 1,250 g (1.30 to 2.76 lb), with an average weight of 873 g (1.925 lb). Adult band-bellied owls have a dark brown facial disk, white brow markings above dark reddish brown eyes, dark chocolate brown upperparts marked with scattered buffy-white spots, and a dark brown tail marked with thin white bars. The upper breast is reddish brown with buff barring, while the remainder of the underparts are white to creamy with reddish brown barring. The plumage of juvenile band-bellied owls has not been formally described. Two subspecies are recognized: the nominate subspecies occurs on the eastern slope of the Andes, ranging from central Colombia south through Ecuador and Peru, and the subspecies P. m. philoscia extends from this range south into west-central Bolivia. This owl occurs at elevations between approximately 650 and 2,200 m (2,130 to 7,220 ft). It primarily lives in the interior of humid montane forest and foothills rainforest, but can also be found at forest edges and in clearings with scattered trees.
