About Strix albitarsis (Bonaparte, 1850)
The rufous-banded owl, with the scientific name Strix albitarsis (Bonaparte, 1850), measures 30 to 35 cm (12 to 14 in) in length. Two recorded specimens weighed 265 g (9.3 oz) and 350 g (12.3 oz). It has a round head and no ear tufts. Adult individuals have a rufous facial disk that is darker black around their orange eyes, alongside white "brows" and white lores. The rest of the head and the upperparts are blackish brown with buffy rufous bars and spots. The tail is also blackish brown, marked with lighter bars. The chest is dark brown with whitish and tawny bars and spots. The rest of the underparts show silvery white and rufous brown in an ocellated pattern. Juvenile rufous-banded owls are buffy with a blackish mask.
The rufous-banded owl is distributed in the Andes mountains, ranging from northern Venezuela south to western and southern Bolivia. According to the International Ornithologists' Union, the nominate subspecies occurs in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador; subspecies S. a. opaca occurs in Peru; and subspecies S. a. tertia occurs in Bolivia. This species lives in humid evergreen montane forest and cloudforest that have a dense understory, epiphytes, and mosses. In Venezuela, it has also been recorded in more open areas that adjoin dense forest. Its elevational range spans from approximately 1,700 to 3,700 m (5,600 to 12,100 ft).
