Buff-fronted owl

{{speciesbox

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2024 |title=Aegolius harrisii |page=e.T22689378A264158755 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22689378A264158755.en}}

| status2 = CITES_A2

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}

| image = Aegolius harrisii-Buff-fronted Owl.jpg

| image_caption = Buff-fronted Owl at Dourado, São Paulo State, Brazil

| genus = Aegolius

| species = harrisii

| authority = (Cassin, 1849)

| range_map = Aegolius harrisii map.svg

}}

The buff-fronted owl (Aegolius harrisii) is a small owl. It is found in widely separated areas in every South American country except French Guiana and Suriname.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/ |title=IOC World Bird List (v 11.2) |last1=Gill |first1= F. |last2=Donsker|first2=D.|last3=Rasmussen |first3=P. |date=July 2021 |access-date=July 14, 2021 }}Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The buff-fronted owl was described by the American ornithologist John Cassin in 1849, and given the binomial name Nyctale harrisii.{{ cite journal | last= Cassin | first=John | author-link=John Cassin | year=1849 | title=Description of new species of the genera Nyctale, Brehm., and Sycobius, Vieill.; specimens of which are in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume=4 | pages=157–158 [157] | url= https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5445355 }} The title page is dated 1848 but the volume was not published until the following year.{{ 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=174 | url= https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476645 }} The binomial commemorates the American ornithologist Edward Harris.{{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/n186 186] }}

The buff-fronted owl is the only member of genus Aegolius in South America. Its closest relative is the northern saw-whet owl (A. acadicus) of Canada and the U.S., and the other two extant members of the genus are found there and in Mexico. It has three subspecies, the nominate A. h. harrisii, A. h. dabbenei, and A. h. iheringi. The last of these has been suggested to be a separate species.{{cite taxon |BOW |citation=Holt, D. W., R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. L. Enríquez, J. L. Petersen, J. L. Rangel Salazar, K. P. Segars, K. L. Wood, A. Bonan, and J. S. Marks (2020). Buff-fronted Owl (Aegolius harrisii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bufowl1.01 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |make=yes}}

Description

The buff-fronted owl is {{convert|19|to|21|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|104|to|155|g|oz|abbr=on}}. It is compact and has a short tail and a large blocky head without ear tufts. Its facial disks are buff with a black surround and distinctive black patches above its greenish yellow eyes. The nominate subspecies' forehead and hindneck are yellowish buff and the rest of the head and upperparts chocolate brown. The tail is blackish and has two white bars and a white tip. Its chin has a small brown patch and the rest of the underparts are yellowish buff. A. h. dabbenei has darker upperparts and a cinnamon tinge on the underparts. A. h. iheringi is also darker above and its underparts are a deeper orange.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the buff-fronted owl is found discontinuously in the Andes from Venezuela south to southern Peru. A. h. iheringi is also found discontinuously, in Bolivia, Paraguay, eastern Brazil, and in southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and northeastern Paraguay. A. h. dabbenei is found in northwestern Argentina, and birds observed in western Bolivia might also be this subspecies. The subspecies of birds found locally on the tepuis of southern Venezuela and Guyana is not known.

The buff-fronted owl inhabits a variety of landscapes including open humid forest, dry forest, forest edges, subtropical rainforest, and human-altered areas with fruit trees and palms. In the Andes it ranges between {{convert|1500|and|3800|m|ft|abbr=on}} and elsewhere between about {{convert|600|and|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

Behavior

=Feeding=

The buff-fronted owl's hunting behavior and diet have not been studied. It has been recorded taking insects, rodents, birds, and other small vertebrates.

=Breeding=

Almost nothing is known about the buff-fronted owl's breeding phenology. A nest with three eggs was found in Brazil in March; it was in a dead palm, in what appeared to be an abandoned parrot nest cavity. Another nest was in a hollow tree.

=Vocalization=

{{birdsong|url=https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Aegolius-harrisii |species=buff-fronted owl}}

The male buff-fronted owl's song is "a rapid, wavering trill, 'frurururururururu{{'"}}. Dependent fledglings give a "hissing, raspy 'cheet' begging call".

Status

The IUCN had originally assessed the buff-fronted owl as being Near Threatened but in 2004 downlisted it to being of Least Concern. It is generally thought to be rare but is probably overlooked. Its population is unknown and believed to be stable.