Choco Screech Owl vs Cloud-forest Screech-Owl

Megascops centralis compared with Megascops marshalli

Key Differences

• Choco Screech Owl is Least Concern while Cloud-forest Screech-Owl is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Choco Screech Owl	Cloud-forest Screech-Owl
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (cordados)	Chordata (cordados)
Class same	Aves (ave)	Aves (ave)
Order same	Strigiformes (Owls)	Strigiformes (Owls)
Family same	Strigidae (True Owls)	Strigidae (True Owls)
Genus same	Megascops	Megascops
Species	Megascops centralis	Megascops marshalli

Evolutionary Relationship

Choco Screech Owl and Cloud-forest Screech-Owl share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Megascops.

Conservation Status

Choco Screech Owl

LC — Least Concern

Cloud-forest Screech-Owl

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Choco Screech Owl	Cloud-forest Screech-Owl
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Choco Screech Owl

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Norway.

Cloud-forest Screech-Owl

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found in Norway. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Choco Screech Owl

The Choco Screech-Owl (Megascops centralis) is a small, cryptically patterned owl in the family Strigidae, found in the humid lowland and foothill forests of the Chocó region of northwestern Colombia and extending into adjacent areas of Central America. Screech-owls of the genus Megascops are characterised by their small to medium size, prominent ear tufts, complex camouflage plumage imitating tree bark, and vocalisations consisting of mellow trilling or whinnying calls quite different from the piercing screech suggested by their common name. The Choco Screech-Owl inhabits the forest interior and edge from sea level to around 1,500 metres elevation, where it hunts nocturnally for large insects, small lizards, frogs, and occasionally small birds. During the day it roosts upright against a tree trunk or in dense foliage, where its mottled grey, brown, and black plumage renders it nearly invisible. Nesting occurs in natural tree cavities. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern, with a sufficient range across the Colombian Chocó and Central America. However, the ongoing loss of lowland tropical forest in this region — one of the wettest on Earth — remains a background threat to this and the many other Chocó endemics that depend on intact forest.

Cloud-forest Screech-Owl

The cloud forest screech-owl (Megascops marshalli) is a small owl in the family Strigidae endemic to the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia, inhabiting cloud forest and humid montane woodland between approximately 900 and 2,200 meters elevation. Described scientifically in 1981, it belongs to the diverse Megascops screech-owl assemblage of the Americas. The species has brown, streaked cryptic plumage and small ear tufts typical of screech-owls, with a characteristic song used for territory advertisement in cloud forest habitats. It is nocturnal and insectivorous, feeding on large insects, small lizards, and other invertebrates caught in the forest understory. The cloud forest screech-owl has a restricted range on the humid eastern Andean slopes, where increasing deforestation for agriculture and coca cultivation reduces suitable habitat. Its population status is considered Least Concern given the continuing extent of Andean cloud forest in its range, though forest clearance on the eastern Andean slopes remains a long-term threat to this and many other narrowly endemic cloud forest bird species.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway