The Rufescent Screech Owl (Megascops ingens) is a species of owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

 in the Strigidae family. It is found in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. This is one of the larger species of screech owls, similar in size to the White-throated Screech Owl. The overall length is 25 to 29 cm (10-11.5 in) and weight in males is 134-190 grams (4.7-6.7 oz) and 140-273 grams (5-9.6 oz) in females. It is sandy-brown above, vermiculated darker, the facial disc is sandy-brown, without a distinct rim. The flight feathers are barred cinnamon and dusky and the tail is cinnamon with darker brown bars. The hindcrown has buffy-whitish border. It has honey-brown eyes and small ear-tufts. The tarsi are feathered to the base of the toes.

Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, from elevations of 1,200 to 2,500 m.This relatively powerful bird is a strictly nocturnal bird that becomes active at dusk. During the daytime it mostly roosts among epiphyte

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

s on thick branches. Little is known about the life history of this bird. Larger insects and spiders are taken, as well as small vertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

s. The reproductive biology requires study but it is known to nest in natural holes in trees where pure white eggs are laid directly on the bottom of the cavity. It is not considered a threatened species

Threatened species

Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...

 by the IUCN.