Tropical Screech-Owl

SCI Name:  Megascops choliba
Protonym:  Strix choliba Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 7 p.39
Taxonomy:  Strigiformes / Strigidae / Megascops
Taxonomy Code:  trsowl
Type Locality:  Paraguay.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1817
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MEGASCOPS
(Strigidae; Ϯ Eastern Screech Owl M. asio) Gr. μεγας megas, μεγαλη  megalē  great; genus Scops Brünnich, 1772, owl. "5tes Subgenus. Megascops, Kp., Asiones, Schleg.  Schnabel vorgestreckt. Flügel kurz und stumpf. 1ste Schwinge so lang wie die 10te. 1ste bis 5te Schwinge an der Aussen- und Innenfahne deutlich ausgeschnitten. Fusswurzel befiedert. Zehen meist vollständig nackt.   8. Scops asio, Gr. Less." (Kaup 1851). The Eastern Screech Owl and its New World congeners were formerly placed in the genus Scops (= Otus).   
Synon. Athene, Gymnasio, Pseudociccaba.

choliba
Local Aragonese name Chóliba for the European Scops Owl; ex “Chóliba” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 48: “Al presente aplico el de Chóliba, porque asi llamaban en mi pais siendo yo muchacho á un páxaro de la familia, que segun quiero acordarme era muy cercano á éste” (Megascops).

SUBSPECIES

Tropical Screech-Owl (luctisonus)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba luctisonus
luctisonus
L. luctisonus  mournful, sad-sounding, doleful  < luctus  mourning  < lugere  to mourn; sonare  to sound.

Tropical Screech-Owl (margaritae)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba margaritae
margaritae
● Margarita Nikandrovna Zilova (fl. 1897) common-law wife of Russian ornithologist Konstantin Davydof (Laurent Raty in litt.) (syn. Alectoris chukar sinaica).
● Margaret Kernochan Pulitzer née Leech (1893-1974) US author, historian, wife of publisher and sponsor Ralph Pulitzer (Batis).
● Margarethe Koenig née Westphal (1865-1943) German field-naturalist, collector, wife of zoologist Prof. A. Koenig (subsp. Chersophilus duponti).
● Gabrielle Maud Vassal née Candler (fl. 1919) collector in tropical China and Indochina (subsp. Cissa chinensis).
● Subsequent spelling by author of subspecific name Coeligena torquata margaretae Zimmer, 1948 (syn. Coeligena torquata margaretae).
● Margaret Hall Holt née Lander (b. 1894) wife of US ornithologist Ernest G. Holt (Conirostrum).
● Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela (subsp. Crypturellus erythropus, subsp. Megascops choliba, subsp. Phalaenopsis brasiliana, subsp. Rallus longirostris, subsp. Xiphorhynchus susurrans).
● Hon. Margaret Mary Fraser (1881-1973) sister of explorer Simon Fraser 14th Lord Lovat (syn. Estrilda paludicola ochrogaster).
● Amelia ‘Daisy’ Woolworth Smith née Smith (b. 1858) US preparator, collector in the Neotropics, wife of naturalist Herbert Huntington Smith (Spanish name margarita for the daisy flower) (subsp. Lampornis amethystinus, subsp. Sporathraupis cyanocephala, subsp. Tangara flava).
● Margaret Fitzell Gilliard née Tifft (1918-2008) wife of US ornithologist E. Thomas Gilliard (subsp. Paradisornis rudolphi).
● Isla Santa Margarita, Baja California, Mexico (subsp. Polioptila californica).
● Anne Louise Marguerite Dorst née Larpent (fl. 1956) wife of French ornithologist Jean Dorst (subsp. Psilopsiagon aurifrons).
● Marguerite Delacour (1860-1954) mother of French ornithologist Jean Delacour (Psittiparus).
● Margaret Boardman Conover (b. 1888) sister of US ornithologist Henry Boardman Conover (subsp. Zentrygon frenata).

Tropical Screech-Owl (duidae)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba duidae
duidae
Cerro Duida, Amazonas, Venezuela.

Tropical Screech-Owl (cruciger)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba cruciger
cruciger / crucigera / crucigerus
Late Med. L. cruciger  cross-bearing  < L. crux, crucis  cross; -gera  carrying  > gerere  to carry.

Tropical Screech-Owl (surutus)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba surutus
surutus
Río Surutu, Buenavista, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Tropical Screech-Owl (decussatus)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba decussatus
decussata / decussatus
L. decussatus decussate, marked with crosses < decussis ten (X in Roman numerals).

Tropical Screech-Owl (choliba)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba choliba
choliba
Local Aragonese name Chóliba for the European Scops Owl; ex “Chóliba” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 48: “Al presente aplico el de Chóliba, porque asi llamaban en mi pais siendo yo muchacho á un páxaro de la familia, que segun quiero acordarme era muy cercano á éste” (Megascops).

Tropical Screech-Owl (wetmorei)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba wetmorei
wetmorei
Dr Frank Alexander Wetmore (1886-1978) US ornithologist (Ara sp?, subsp. Catharus frantzii, subsp. Chlorospingus flavopectus, ‡Corvus, syn. Habia fuscicauda salvini, subsp. Megascops choliba, ‡Mycteria, syn. Myzomela rubratra major, subsp. Passerculus sandwichensis, syn. Patagioenas inornata, subsp. Phyllomyias zeledoni, subsp. Pycnonotus cafer, Rallus, Tephrophilus, subsp. Thamnophilus aethiops, Theristicus, subsp. Todirostrum cinereum, subsp. Troglodytes rufulus, subsp. Vireo pallens, subsp. Zosterops everetti).

Tropical Screech-Owl (uruguaii)
SCI Name: Megascops choliba uruguaii
urugaii / uruguaiensis / uruguaii
Río Urugua-í, Misiones, Argentina.