j Raptor Res. 27(3):154-160
¸ 1993 The Raptor ResearchFoundation,Inc.
PRESENCE
AND
DISTRIBUTION
A REVIEW
OF
MEXICAN
OWLS:
PAULA ENRiQUEZ-ROCHA
GEB-Mex, Ap. Postal4-077, 06400 M•xico, D.F., M•xico
j. Luis RANGEL-SALAZAR
Departamento
de Ecologœa
Terrestre,CIQRO, Ap. Postal424,
7700 Chetumal,QuintanaRoo,Mdxico
DENVER W. HOLT
OzolResearchInstitute, P.O. Box 8335, Missoula,MT 59807 U.S.A.
ABSTR^CT.--Mexicohasa rich owl assemblage,
represented
by 27 species.
Eighteenof thesespecies
occur
in theNearcticandNeotropical
regions,
andninespecies
occuronlyin theNeotropical
region.Their biology,
ecologyand distribution,however,are poorlyknown. We recorded3683 specimens
collectedbetween
1840 and 1991 from 11 nationaland 37 foreignmuseums,and reviewedthe literature concerningthese
owls.From thesedata we presenta moreunifieddistributionof Mexican owls.Four species,
Barn Owl
(Tyroalba), Great Horned Owl (Bubovirginianus),FerruginousPygmy-Owl(Glaucidiumbrasilianum)
and Burrowing Owl (Speotytocunicularia),have a wide distribution. The Balsas ScreechOwl (Otus
seductus)
is endemicto the centralPacificregion.Oaxacaand Michoacanhad the highestowl species
richnesswith 21 and 19 species,respectively.Aguascalientes,
Campecheand Tlaxcala had the lowest
owl species
richness,four, five,and fiverespectively.
The FerruginousPygmy-Owlwas the mostcollected
owl, representing30.7% of the specimens,
and the UnspottedSaw-whetOwl (Aegolius
ridgwayi)the least
with 0.19%.Of the Neotropicalspecies,
the UnspottedSaw-whetOwl, StripedOwl (Asioclamator),and
StygianOwl (A. stygius)
are considered
endangered
by the Mexicangovernment.
The screech-owl
group
(Otus)and the Barred Owl (Strix varia)/FulvousOwl (S.fulvescens
-- S. v. fulvescens)
have uncertain
distributions
due to taxonomic
uncertainties.
Presenciay distribuci6nde los bfihosMexicanas:una revisi6n
RESUMEN.--M•xico
tieneunaalta riquezadeespecies
debfihos,representada
pot 27 especies.
Dieciocho
de estasespecies
seencuentran
tantoen la regionneirticacomoen la neotropical,
y nuevede lasespecies
selocalizansoloen la regi6nneotropical.Su biologla,ecologlaasl comosudistribuci6nespococonocida.
Nosotroscompriamos
3683 datosdeespeclmenes
de bfihoscolectados
en Mgxico;conregistrosdesde1840
hasta 1991, de 11 museosnacionalesy de 37 extranjeros,adicionalmenterevisamosintensamentela
literatura disponible.Combinandoestosdatos,damosuna distribuci6nunificadade los bfihosde Mgxico.
Cuatroespecies,
la Lechuzade Campanario(Tytoalba),el BfihoCornadoAmericano(Bubovirginianus),
el TecolotitoBajefio(Glaucidium
brasilianum)
y el TecoloteZanc6n(Speotyto
cunicularia)tienen una
amplia distribuci6nen el continenteAmericano.E1 TecoloteOjioscurodel Balsas(Otusseductus)
es
endgmico
parala regi6ndelPacificoCentraldeMgxico.Losestados
demayorriquezadeespecies
fueron
Oaxacay Michoacincon21 y 19 especies
respectivamente,
porel contrariolosestados
conmenorriqueza
fueronAguascalientes,
Campechey Tlaxcalacon4, 5 y 5 respectivamente.
El TecolotitoBajefioha sido
la especie
de bfihomilscolectada,
representando
el 30.7%delosespeclmenes,
y el queregistroconmenos
colectas
fugel TecoloteAbeteroSurerio(Aegolius
ridgwayi)representando
tansoloel 0.19%.De lasespecies
neotropicales,
el TecoloteAbeteroSurerio,el BfihoCornadoCariblanco(Asioclamator)y el BfihoCornado
Oscuro(A. stygius)sonconsideradas
comoamenazadas
por el gobiernoMexicano.E1 grupoOtus asi
comoel BfihoSerranoVientrirrayado(Strixvaria)/BfihoSerranoSurerio(S.fulvescens
= S. v.fulvescens)
tienen distribuciones controversiales debidas a su clasificaci6n incierta.
[Traducci6n Autores]
Currently, there are 178 speciesof owls recognized in the world (Sibley and Alhquist 1990), of
which 27 (15%) speciesoccurin Mexico. This exceedsthe owl speciesdiversity(N = 22) of northern
154
forests,northof 35ø(Norberg1987). Although,there
is someoverlap.
Owls in Mexico
have been little studied and most
literature is old (Ridgway 1895, Kelso and Kelso
SEPTEMBER 1993
MEXICAN
OWL DISTRIBUTION
155
Sonora
Chihuahua
Coahuila
aa
Californi,
Si
Sur
Durango
dipas
1. Aguascalientes
2. Oistrito
Federal
Gulf of
•,,N•
3. Guanajuato
4.Hidalgo
Mexico
•
5. Morelos
6. Queretaro
IRa
:ruz
Colinn
7. Tlaxcala
Guerrero
Pacific
Figure 1.
Ocean
Oaxaca
Chiapas
Map of the Mexican Republic showinglocationsof 32 states.
1936, Moore 1937a, 1937b, 1941, 1947a, Moore
choacfin,
EscuelaNacionalde CienciasBio16gicas,
Insti-
and Peters 1939, Alvarez del Toro 1949, Briggs
1954, Moore and Marshall 1959, Buchanan 1964,
Northern 1965). Generally,mostMexican owl specieshavelimitedmorphological
descriptions
and only
approximateddistributions(Friedman et al. 1950,
tuto de Historia Natural de Chiapas, Instituto Nacional
de InvestigacionesForestalesy Agropecuarias-Bacalar,
Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones
sobreRecursosB•6ticos,LaboratorioNatural de Las Joyas, Universidadde
Guadalajara, Museo de Zoologlade la Facultad de Ciencias, Museo de ZoologlaIztacala, Sa16nde las Aves de
Blake 1972, Davis 1972, Peterson and Chalif 1973,
1989, Edwards1989). Unfortunately,thesedistributionsare often controversial.Here, we presenta
review of the distribution
and relative
status of Mex-
ican owls based on museum specimen data and
available
literature.
STUDY AREA AND METHODS
Mexico (2 million km2)has32 states(Fig. 1) with > 50%
of the land mass above 1000 m elevation (Ramos 1985).
Its 32 vegetationtypes (Rzedowski 1986), geographiclocation, and topography contribute to a rich diversity of
fauna
and flora.
To obtain information on Mexican owl specimenswe
wrote letters to or visited 11 national museums(Colecci6n
Ornitol6gicadel Instituto de Biologla,Colecci6nOrnito16gicade San Nicol•tsde Hidalgo, Universidadde Mi-
Saltillo Coahuila,UniversidadAut6nomade Baja California Sur and 37 foreignmuseums(Australian Museum,
AnnistonMuseumof Natural History, Academyof Natural Sciencesof Philadelphia,Bell Museum of Natural
History, British Museum, Carnegie Museum of Natural
History, Cornell University Collection,CollectionZoologyMuseum Amsterdam-Nederland, Denver Museum of
Natural History, Delaware Museumof Natural History,
Fort Hays Museum,FloridaMuseumof Natural History,
Forschungsinstitut
undNaturmuseumSenckenberg,
Harvard Museumof ComparativeZoology,Illinois StateMuseumCollection,KansasUniversity Collection,Los AngelesCaliforniaMuseum-Natural History, LouisianaState
UniversityMuseum Zoology,Moore Laboratoryof Zoology-OccidentalCollege, Museo Nacional de Ciencias
Naturales-Espafia,Museum of Natural History-Chicago, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology-Universityof Cali-
forniaBerkeley,OklahomaMuseumof Natural History,
ProvincialMuseum of Alberta, PeabodyMuseum Col-
156
ENRiQUEZ-ROGHAET AL.
VOL. 27, NO. 3
lection-YaleUniversity,Royal Ontario Museum, Rijks-
museum
VanNaturvlijke
Historie-Leiden,
Santa
Barbara
Museum
ofNatural
History,
Southwestern
College
Col- Sr^TESø•
0
lection,San Diego Museum of Natural History, Staatli-
chesMuseumftir Naturkunde
in Stuttgart,
TexasCooperativeWildlife Collection,National Museum of Natural
History-SmithsonianInstitute,Universityof Washington,
Thomas Burke Memorial State Museum, Universityof
Wisconsin
Zoological
Museum,WesternFoundation
Vertebrate Zoology Collection,ZoologicalInstitute of the
Academyof Sciences-URSS).Additionally, we reviewed
the existingliteraturefor informationconcerning
Mexican
owls.For vegetationtypes,we followedRzedowski(1986).
State boundarieswere the unit usedto delineatedistributionsof the owls. We applied the taxonomyusedby
AmadonandBull (1988) for mostof the owl species
which
occurin Mexico. We followed Marshall et al. (1991) for
recentchangesof VermiculatedScreech-Owl(Otusguatemalae)to Variable Screech-Owl(O. atricapillus),and
A.O.U. (1991) for genericchangeof the BurrowingOwl
from Atheneto Speotyto.
We includedthe Fulvous Owl
(Strixfulvescens)
asa subspecies
of theBarredOwl (Strix
varia) = S. v.fulvescens
(Edwards1989, J. Marshall pers.
comm.).
RESULTS
O0
0
Bcs
0
0
0
O0
0
c.,.
c.•s
co^
cot
OF
O0
0
0
O0
0
0
0
O0
0
O0
O0
0
O0
0
XO
0
XO
O0
X
O0
O0
0
0
O0
O0
O0
0
O0
O0
TAB
0
0
0
O0
0
0
0
•^•
0
O0
TLAX
O0
0
0
0
O0
0
X
O0
000
0
0
0000
O0
0
O0
OX
OXO0
0
0000
0
O0
0
0
000
0
O0
0
OOOOXO
0
O0
XO
XO
0
O0
XO
O0
0
OOX
XO0
0
O0
000
00000
O0
O0
O0
XOOO0
0
O0
000
0
0
O0
X
O0
000
000
O0
O0
0
XOO0
0
0
0
OOX
XO
0
O0
000
0
XOO0
OXO
0000000
OX
O0
O0
OXXOOO0
0
O0
O0
0
X
O0
0
0
0
OOOX
O0
0
0
OX
son
0
O0
0
0
0
o•oo 0O0
0
0
O0
000
O0
0
O0
O0
0
O0
o•x
O0
O0
0
000
0
•oR
O0
XO
0000000000
O0
O0
XO
0
X
O0
0
0
0
OOXO
X
0000
0
0
0
X
X
0
0000
O0
O0
X
O0
O0
0000
O0
0
0
000XO
0
X
0
0
0
0
0
O0
0
0000000
0 O0
OX
OOXX
We compiledand analyzeddata on 3683 speci0
0
O0
0
0
X
X
mensof Mexicanowls.Twenty-sevenMexicanowl Yuc 0 0
0
0
000
species
fromboththe Nearcticand Neotropicalzoogeographic
regionsare represented.
Eighteenspecies Figure 2. Presenceof owl speciesby state in Mexico.
occurin the Nearcticand Neotropicalregions,while
nine speciesoccuronly in the Neotropicalregion.
The BalsasScreech-Owl (Otus seductus)is endemic
to Mexico's Pacific slope region. The Bearded
Screech-Owl(Otus barbarus)and UnspottedSawwhet Owl (Aegoliusridgwayi) are found only in
Chiapas.
The greatestnumberof museumspecimens
were
of the FerruginousPygmy-Owl (Glaucidiumbrasihanum) and least number of the UnspottedSawwhet Owl. The richestowl assemblage
camefrom
Oaxaca and Michoacan with 21 and 19 species,
respectively.
SpeciesAccounts
Barn Owl (TALB)
Tyroalba
The most widely distributedowl in Mexico, it
inhabitatsforest,openareas,villagesand cities,and
islands from sea level to 3500
m in elevation.
One
Codesare describedin the text. (O = museumrecordsand
X = literature records.)
sula. Blake (1972) and Grossmanand Hamlet (1988)
consideredthem widely distributed throughout
Mexico.
Flammulated Owl (OFLA)
Otusfiamrneolus
Flammulated Owl inhabits highlandsand pine
forestfrom 2100-3000 m elevation.It is migratory
in southern Sinaloa, central Mexico and south
throughthe highlandsof Chiapas.Eighty-onespecimens from 16 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). Additionally,it has beenreportedfor Distrito Federal
(Ridõway 1914, Friedmanet al. 1950, Blake 1972)
and Nuevo Le6n (A.O.U. 1983, Contreras-Balderas
1992).
Eastern Screech-Owl (OASI)
Otus asio
Eastern Screech-Owlinhabits pine forest, pineoak forest and riparian habitats from sea level to
1500 m elevation.One hundredand sevenspecimens
from 19 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). Its distribution
hundred forty-one specimensfrom 31 stateswere
recorded(Fig. 2). Friedman et al. (1950) also reportedBarn Owls fromHidalgoandQuintanaRoo,
as have we (Enrlquez-Rochaand Rangel-Salazar is restricted to northeastern and southern Mexico,
pers. ohs.). Paynter (1955) and Hartiõ (1979) did which agreeswith Marshall (1967) and Rowley
not report the Barn Owl from the Yucatan Penin- (1984).
SEPTEMBER1993
MEXICAN OWL DISTRIBUTION
Western Screech-Owl (OKEN)
Otuskennicottii
Western Screech-Owl inhabits dense pine and
157
elevation.One hundredand six specimensfrom 16
stateswererecorded(Fig. 2). Althoughreportedfrom
pine-oakforests,openhabitats,and semi-desert
veg- Campeche and Tabasco (Friedman et al. 1950,
etation from 0-2400 m elevation. One hundred and
Paynter 1955, Storer 1961, Davis 1972), no speciforty-eight specimensfrom 15 stateswere recorded menswere located.This is the only speciesfrom the
(Fig. 2). There is confusionregardingspeciesand Otusgenusfound in the Yucatan Peninsula.
subspecies
distributionsdue to taxonomicchanges
(Marshall 1967). Our data conflictwith Blake (1972)
CrestedOwl (LCRI)
Lophostrixcristata
Crested Owl occurs in southern Mexico and inwho reportedthis species
in Queretaroand Hidalgo.
Its distribution is northcentral, southwestern, and habitstropicalevergreenand semi-deciduous
forest,
Baja California.
riparian areas, partial clearings, and foothills. It
rangesfrom sealevelto 1000 m elevation.TwentyBalsas Screech-Owl (OSED)
Otus seductus
two specimens
from four stateswere recorded(Fig.
BalsasScreech-Owlinhabits tropical deciduous
2). Grossmanand Hamlet (1988) reportedit from
forestand arid tropicalscrub,and the edgesof cropthe Yucatan Peninsula, but we could not confirm
land. It rangesfrom sea level to 1200 m elevation. this.
Twenty-five specimensfrom two stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). It hasalsobeenrecordedin Guerrero
Spectacled
Owl (PPER) Pulsatrixperspicillata
(Marshall 1967, Peterson and Chalif 1975, A.O.U.
SpectacledOwl inhabitstropical evergreenand
1983). This, the only endemicMexican owl, is cur- semi-deciduous
forests,riparian areas,partial clearrently found only in Michoacan and Colima.
ings, and forest edges.It rangesfrom sea level to
900 m. Thirty-one specimens
from three stateswere
PacificScreech-Owl(OCOO)
Otuscooperi
recorded(Fig. 2). It appearsrestrictedto southern
Pacific Screech-Owl inhabits tropical lowlands,
Mexico, but Grossmanand Hamlet (1988) report
mangroves,open forests,palm groves,and swamps. it for the Yucatan Peninsula. We are uncertain of
It occursfrom sealevel to 90 m elevation.Twenty- this.
three specimens
from six stateswere recorded(Fig.
2). It appearsto exist only along the Pacificslope
Great Horned Owl (BVIR)
Bubovirginianus
in southwestern Mexico.
Great Horned Owl inhabitsa wide diversityof
habitatsfrom forestland to open areas.It ranges
WhiskeredScreech-Owl(OTRI) Otustrichopsis from sea level to 2700 m elevation. Two hundred
Whiskered Screech-Owl inhabits highlands, in
thirty-six specimensfrom 26 stateswere recorded
pine-oakforest,pine forestand dry oak. It ranges
(Fig. 2). Brodkorb(1943) reportedit for Tabasco,
from 1200-5000
m elevation.
One hundred
and
but no specimens
exist.The presentdistributionenninety-threespecimens
from 20 stateswere recorded
compasses
almostthe entirecountryand its presence
(Fig. 2). Additionally, it has been reported from
in Tabascoseemslikely.
Hidalgo and Puebla (Davis 1972, A.O.U. 1985). It
has a wide distribution but is absent in the Yucatan
Mottled Owl (CVIR)
Ciccabavirgata
and Baja California peninsulas.
MottledOwl inhabitstropicallowlandforest,open
tropicalforest,and foothills.It rangesfrom sealevel
BeardedScreech-Owl (OBAR)
Otusbarbarus
to 2100 m elevation.Four hundred and one speciBeardedScreech-Owlinhabitspine and pine-oak
mensfrom 22 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). It has
forestfrom 1400-1800 m elevation.Only nine speca widedistribution,butis notyetreportedfromBaja
imens,all from Chiapas,wererecorded(Fig. 2), but Peninsula and northcentral Mexico.
Ridgway (1914) reportedit southof Chiapasin the
Black and White Owl (CNIG)
highlandsof Guatemala. It has the most restricted
distributionof any Mexican owl.
Ciccabanigrolineata
Black and White Owl appearsto have discontinVermiculated Screech-Owl (OGUA)
uousdistributionwithin Mexico. It inhabitstropical
Otusguatemalae evergreenand semi-deciduous
forests,forestedge,or
VermiculatedScreech-Owlinhabitsriparian ar- partial clearings.It rangesfrom sealevelto 1200 m
eas, tropical semi-deciduousand deciduousforests, elevation.Forty-six specimensfrom five stateswere
and forestedges.It rangesfrom sealevelto 1500 m recorded(Fig. 2). Our museumdata agreewith the
158
ENRiQUEZ-ROCHA
ET AL.
VOL. 27, No. 3
literature (Ridgway 1914, Friedman et al. 1950, not been reported from Mexico's peninsulasor the
Blake 1972, Davis 1972, Petersonand Chalif 1973, northcentraland central plateaus.
A.O.U. 1983, Edwards 1989). Paynter (1955) reFerruginousPygmy-Owl (GBRA)
portedone specimenfrom Quintana Roo, and we
Glaucidium brasilianum
have additional specimensfrom there.
FerruginousPygmy-Owl inhabitslowlandriparBarred Owl (SVAR)
Strix varia ian forest,forest edge, secondgrowth, and thickets
Found in pine and pine-oak forests,and ranges from sea level to 1500 m elevation. One thousand
from 1500-3000 m elevation.Thirty-nine specimens one hundred thirty-one specimensfrom 23 states
from 10 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). Someauthors were recorded(Fig. 2). It has not beenreportedin
(Ridgway 1914, Peters1940, Friedmanet al. 1950, the Baja California Peninsula. Friedman et al.
Davis 1972, A.O.U. 1983) reportedit for Puebla, (1950), and A.O.U. (1983) report it for Distrito
but we locatedno museumspecimens.Alvarez del Federal and Coahuila but no museum specimens
Toro (1980) reportedthe FulvousOwl (Strixful- exist.
vescens)from the Cloud Forest of Chiapas, but we
Elf Owl (MWHI)
Micrathenewhitney•
identifiedonlyonemuseumspecimen
fromthe Cloud
Elf Owl inhabitssaguarodesertsandarid tropical
ForestasStrixvariafulvescens.
Six specimens
in three scrub from sea level to 1800 m elevation. One hunmuseums identified
as Strix varia were reclassified
dred sixty-sevenspecimensfrom 16 stateswere re-
as S. v.fulvescens
by J.T. Marshall (pets.comm.). corded(Fig. 2). This includesthe RevillagigedoIsAlso,two otherspecimens
from Oaxacawere iden- landsin the Pacific Ocean. It has alsobeenreported
tified asS.fulvescens,
but they shouldbe reclassified for the state of Mexico (Peters 1940, Blake 1972),
as S. v. fulvescens.
and Tamaulipas(Grossmanand Hamlet 1988), but
SpottedOwl (SOCC)
Strix occidentalis no specimensexist. It doesnot occurin southern
SpottedOwl hasa discontinuous
distribution,in- Mexico.
habiting pine and pine-oakforestsfrom 1200-2500
Burrowing Owl (SCUN)
Speotyto
cunicularia
m elevation.Twenty-sevenspecimensfrom eight
Burrowing Owl inhabitsopenlands,grasslands,
stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). It has been reported
prairies, and tropical scrubfrom sealevel to 1800
in Baja California (Ridgway 1914, A.O.U. 1983,
m elevation.Two hundredseventy-seven
specimens
Edwards 1989, Peterson and Chalif 1989), but no
from 27 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). It has a wide
specimensexist from there. A specimenfrom San distribution and occursthroughout the country in
Luis Potosiand one sightrecordfrom Durango do suitable habitat (Grossman and Hamlet 1988).
exist (R. Clark pets. comm.),but we were not able
to confirm
this.
Northern Pygmy-Owl(GGNO)
Glaucidiumgnoma
Northern Saw-whet Owl (AACA)
Aegoliusacadicus
Northern
Saw-whet
Owl
inhabits
foothills with
pine and pine-oakforestsfrom 1800-2800 m elevation.Twenty-six specimens
from 11 stateswere
recorded(Fig. 2). It occursin northcentraland central Mexico, and hasbeenreportedfrom Chihuahua,
Jalisco,and Veracruz(Ridgway1914, Friedmanet
NorthernPygmy-Owlinhabitspine-oakforestand
scrubvegetation,from 1800-3700 m elevation.One
hundredeighty-eightspecimens
from 25 stateswere
recorded(Fig. 2). It has also been reportedfrom
Colima (Ridgway 1914, Friedmanet al. 1950), but al. 1950, Blake 1972, Davis 1972).
no museum specimensare known.
UnspottedSaw-whet Owl (ARID)
Aegoliusridgwayz
Glaucidium minutissimum
UnspottedSaw-whet Owl inhabitscloudforest,
LeastPygmy-Owlinhabitstropicalforest,forest pine, and pine-oak forest from 2100-3000 m eleall from Chiapaswere
edge,plantations,and barrancasfrom sea level to vation.Only sevenspecimens,
1800 m elevation.One hundred thirty-nine speci- recorded(Fig. 2). It has been reportedpreviously
mens from 14 stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). The from Chiapas(Moore 1947b,AlvarezdelToro 1980,
specimendata agreewith the distributionsgivenby Davis 1972, Petersonand Chalif 1973, A.O.U. 1983,
Davis (1972) and Petersonand Chalif (1989). It has Enriquez and Rangel-Salazar (pers. obs.). The
LeastPygmy-Owl(GMIN)
SEPTEMBER 1993
MEXICAN
OWL DISTRIBUTION
159
A.O.U. (1983) reported a questionablespecimen Owl (Edwards 1989, J. Marshall pers. comm.);
record from Oaxaca.
however,field work is still neededto verify this.
The UnspottedSaw-whetOwl, StripedOwl, and
Striped Owl (ACLA)
Asiaclarnatar
StygianOwl are listedas endangeredby the MexStripedOwl inhabitsdensetropicalevergreenforican government (SEDUE 1991). The Balsas
est,forestgaps,and forestedgefrom sealevelto 900
Screech-Owl, Bearded Screech-Owl, Crested Owl,
m elevation.Twenty-six specimensfrom 3 states
SpectacledOwl, Black and White Owl, Barred Owl
were recorded(Fig. 2). It occursprimarily in southand SpottedOwl are being consideredfor endaneasternMexico,but alsoin Veracruz,Chiapas(Blake
geredstatusbecauseof their low numbers,restricted
1972, Davis 1972, Petersonand Chalif 1973), and
distribution, and habitat loss.
Oaxaca (Binford 1989).
Museum collectiondata can help delineategeoStygianOwl (ASTY)
Asiastygius graphic distribution and estimate relative abunStygian Owl inhabits densecloud forest in the dance.Lack of museumcollectionsmay indicatea
mountainsand rangesfrom 1500-3000 m elevation. rare, uncommon,or easily overlookedspecies.MuSeventeenspecimensfrom nine stateswere recorded seumdata canbe importantalsofor comparingpres(Fig. 2). It hasalsobeenreportedin Chiapas(Fried- ent and historical distributions. Threatened and enman et al. 1950, Davis 1972, Alvarez del Toro 1980,
dangered
species
datain collections
arealsoimportant
for historic location sites. On the other hand, for
A.O.U. 1983) and the Yucatan Peninsula (A.O.U.
1983, Edwards 1989), but, this doesnot agreewith somemuseumspecimens
the accompanyingdata are
our dataor that of Paynter(1955) andHartig (1979). incompleteor completelywrong. Often date of collection and other important information were not
Long-earedOwl (AOTU)
Asiaatus included.
Long-earedOwl inhabitspineandpine-oakforest
This is the first attempt in Mexico to draw inand riparian forestfrom sealevel to 1800 m elevaformationtogetheraboutthis taxonomicgroup.We
tion. Forty-one specimensfrom 13 stateswere rehope this paper acts as a catalystto spur further
corded(Fig. 2). Museum data and the literature are
investigationsinto Mexican owl distribution, status,
in closeagreement(Ridgway 1914, Friedmanet al.
biology,ecology,and conservation.
1950, Blake 1972, A.O.U. 1983). There are band
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
recoveriesof long distancemigrantsto Mexico from
Saskatchewan,Canada (Houston 1966), Montana,
We are very grateful to the museums that provided
U.S.A. (D. Holt pers.obs.),and Minnesota, U.S.A. information. We thank J.T. Marshall for commentson
the manuscriptand additionalinformation.We thank R.J.
(D. Evans pets. comm.).
Clark, C.D. Marti, H. Mikkola andan anonymous
referee
Short-earedOwl (AFLA)
Asiafiamrneus for commentson the manuscript.
Short-earedOwl inhabitsgrasslands,
open trop- LITERATURE CITED
ical forests,prairies, and marshesfrom sea level to
ALVAREZDEE TORO, M. 1949. Striped horned owl in
1500 m elevation.Twenty-nine specimensfrom 14
southern Mexico. Condor 51:232.
stateswere recorded(Fig. 2). It has also been re1980. Las Aves de Chiapas. Gob. del Edo. de
ported from Jalisco, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz,
Chiapas.Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas,M6xico.
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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION.
DISCUSSION
The taxonomyand distributionof mostMexican
owls is still incomplete.For example,subspecies
of
the screechowls (Otus)groupdiscussed
by Marshall
(1967) werereportedonly fromeasternMexico. Our
museum data, however, indicate that someof these
subspecies
occur in western Mexico. The Fulvous
Owl has beenconsidereda subspecies
of the Barred
1983.
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BRODKORB,P. 1943. Birds from the Gulf lowlands of
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104:375.
DAVIS,L.I.
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EDWARDS,
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FRIEDMAN, H., L. GRISGOM AND R.T. MOORE. 1950.
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GROSSMAN,
M. AND.J. HAMLET. 1988. Birds of prey of
the world. Bonanza Books, New York, NY U.S.A.
HARTIG, H.M. 1979. Las Avesde Yucat•tn. Fondo Edit.
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KELSO.
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A new
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Auk 53:
MAGKINNON, B.H.
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,J.T. ,JR. 1967. Parallel variationin North
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northwestern
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Two new owls from Sinaloa, Mexico.
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 50:103-106.
1941. Three new racesin the genusOtusfrom
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Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 54:151-160.
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VOL. 27, NO. 3
Received13 November 1992; accepted15 June 1993