Asio is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Caribbean, Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands. Its geographic range extends to all continents except Antarctica and Australia.

These are medium-sized owls, {{convert|30|–|46|cm|abbr=on}} in length with {{convert|80|–|103|cm|abbr=on}} wingspans. They are long-winged and have the characteristic facial disc. The two northern species are partially migratory, moving south in winter from the northern parts of their range, or wandering nomadically in poor vole years in search of better food supplies. Tropical Asio owls are largely sedentary. These owls hunt over open fields or grasslands, taking mainly rodents, other small mammals and some birds.

Asio owls are mainly nocturnal, but short-eared owls are also crepuscular. Most species nest on the ground, but the long-eared owl (Asio otus) nests in the old stick nests of crows, ravens and magpies (family Corvidae) and various hawks.

Taxonomy

The genus Asio was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the long-eared owl (Asio otus) as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=1 | language=French, Latin | page=28 | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010426 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1940 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=4 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=167 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476638 }} The genus name is from asiō, the Latin name used by Pliny the Younger for a type of horned owl,{{Cite web|url=https://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=2004858&p2=a|title=Definition - Numen - The Latin Lexicon - An Online Latin Dictionary - A Dictionary of the Latin Language|website=latinlexicon.org}} the feather tufts on the head of these owls give the appearance of "ears" which is a defining characteristic.{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n57 57]}}

Species

The genus contains the following nine species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=Owls | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/owls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=27 May 2021 }}

{{Species table |genus=Asio |authority-name=Brisson |authority-year=1760 |species-count=nine|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Jamaican owl |binomial=Asio grammicus

|image=File:Pseudoscops grammicus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Gosse |authority-year=1847 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Jamaica

|range-image=File:Pseudoscops grammicus map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Striped owl |binomial=Asio clamator

|image=File:Coruja-orelhuda.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Vieillot |authority-year=1808 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= South America and parts of Central America.

|range-image=File:Asio clamator map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Long-eared owl |binomial=Asio otus

|image=File:Long-eared Owl - Kisjuszallas - Hungary S4E0920 (15671750198).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes

|range=

|range-image=File:AsioOtusIUCN.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on

|A. o. otus (Linnaeus, 1758)

|A. o. canariensis (Madarász, 1901)

|A. o. wilsonianus (Lesson, 1830)

|A. o. tuftsi Godfrey, 1948

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Abyssinian owl |binomial=Asio abyssinicus

|image=|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Guérin-Méneville|authority-year=1843 |authority-not-original=yes

|range=Ethiopia and northern Kenya.

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Madagascar owl |binomial=Asio madagascariensis

|image=File:Madagascan owl (Asio madagascariensis).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=A. Smith |authority-year=1834 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Madagascar

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Stygian owl |binomial=Asio stygius

|image=File:Mocho-diabo no Parque Estadual Intervales.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Wagler|authority-year= 1832 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Mexico, parts of Central America, Cuba, Hispaniola, and 10 countries in South America.

|range-image=File:Asio stygius map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on

|A. s. lambi Moore, RT (1937)

|A. s. robustus Kelso, L (1934)

|A. s. siguapa d'Orbigny (1839)

|A. s. noctipetens Riley (1916)

|A. s. stygius Wagler (1832)

|A. s. barberoi Bertoni, AW (1930)

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Short-eared owl |binomial=Asio flammeus

|image=File:Short Eared Owl on the Ground.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Pontoppidan|authority-year=1763 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= all continents except Antarctica and Australia

|range-image=File:AsioFlammeusIUCN.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Eleven subspecies |bullets=on

| A. f. flammeus – (Pontoppidan, 1763)

| A. f. cubensis – Garrido, 2007

| A. f. domingensis – (Statius Müller, 1776)

| A. f. portoricensis – Ridgway, 1882

| A. f. bogotensis – Chapman, 1915

| A. f. galapagoensis – (Gould, 1837)

| A. f. pallidicaudus – Friedmann, 1949

| A. f. suinda – (Vieillot, 1817)

| A. f. sanfordi – Bangs, 1919

| A. f. sandwichensis – (A. Bloxam, 1827)

| A. f. ponapensis – Mayr, 1933

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Marsh owl |binomial=Asio capensis

|image=File:Asio capensis (Buho moro - Marsh Owl), Merga Zerga, Marruecos.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Smith |authority-year=1834 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= southern Africa

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Fearful owl |binomial=Asio solomonensis

|image=|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Hartert |authority-year=1901 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Solomon Islands archipelago

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status=VU

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

Three fossil species are recognized:

{{extinct}} Asio brevipes (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene of Hagerman, USA)
{{extinct}} Asio priscus (Late Pleistocene of San Miguel Island and Santa Rosa Island, USA)Collins, P. W., D. A. Guthrie, E. L. Whistler, R. L. Vellanoweth, and J. M. Erlandson. 2018. Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene avifauna of San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands: identifications of previously unidentified avian remains recovered from fossil sites and prehistoric cave deposits. Western North American Naturalist 78(3):370–404.
{{extinct}} Asio ecuadoriensis (Late Pleistocene of Ecuador)Enrico de Lazaro: [http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/asio-ecuadoriensis-08664.html Giant Predatory Owls Once Lived in Ecuador]; on: sci-news; July 22, 2020Lo Coco, G.E., Agnolín, F.L. & Román Carrión, J.L.: [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x#citeas Late Pleistocene owls (Aves, Strigiformes) from Ecuador, with the description of a new species]; In: J Ornithol 161, pp 713–721; March 5, 2020; doi:10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x

The supposed Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owl "Asio" henrici has been recognized as a member of the fossil barn-owl genus Selenornis. "Asio" pygmaeus (often misspelt pigmaeus) cannot be assigned to a genus without restudy of the material. "Asio" collongensis (Middle Miocene of Vieux-Collonges, France) is now placed in the genus Alasio.Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): [http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }}. Ninox Press, Prague.

References

Category:Bird genera