Pygmy owl

Pygmy owls; Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent
	African barred owlet
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Glaucidium; F. Boie, 1826
Type species
	Strix passerina; Linnaeus, 1758
Species
	See text

Guatemalan pygmy owl (left) and red-chested owlet (right); illustration by Keulemans, 1875

Ferruginous pygmy owl

Pygmy owls are members of the genus Glaucidium. They belong to the typical owl family, Strigidae. The genus consists of 29 species distributed worldwide. These are mostly small owls, and some of the species are called "owlets". Most pygmy owl species are nocturnal and they mainly hunt large insects and other small prey.

Taxonomy[]

The genus Glaucidium was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.^[1] The type species was designated as the Eurasian pygmy owl by George Robert Gray in 1840.^[2]^[3] The genus name is from Ancient Greek glaukidion meaning "little owl" or "owlet". It is diminutive of glaux meaning "owl".^[4]

A molecular phologenetic study of the owls published in 2019 found that the widely distributed northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) is sister to the genus Glaucidium.^[5]

Species[]

The genus contains 29 living species:^[6]

Eurasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum)
Pearl-spotted owlet (Glaucidium perlatum)
Red-chested owlet (Glaucidium tephronotum)
Sjöstedt's barred owlet (Glaucidium sjostedti)
Asian barred owlet (Glaucidium cuculoides)
Javan owlet (Glaucidium castanopterum)
Jungle owlet (Glaucidium radiatum)
Chestnut-backed owlet (Glaucidium castanotum)
African barred owlet (Glaucidium capense)
Albertine owlet (Glaucidium albertinum)
Northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium californicum)
Mountain pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma)
Baja pygmy owl (Glaucidium hoskinsii)
Guatemalan pygmy owl (Glaucidium cobanense)
Costa Rican pygmy owl (Glaucidium costaricanum)
Cloud-forest pygmy owl (Glaucidium nubicola)
Andean pygmy owl (Glaucidium jardinii)
Yungas pygmy owl, (Glaucidium bolivianum)
Colima pygmy owl, (Glaucidium palmarum)
Tamaulipas pygmy owl (Glaucidium sanchezi)
Central American pygmy owl (Glaucidium griseiceps)
Subtropical pygmy owl (Glaucidium parkeri)
Amazonian pygmy owl (Glaucidium hardyi)
East Brazilian pygmy owl (Glaucidium minutissimum)
Pernambuco pygmy owl (Glaucidium mooreorum)
Ferruginous pygmy owl (Glaucidium brasilianum)
Pacific pygmy owl (Glaucidium peruanum)
Austral pygmy owl (Glaucidium nana)
Cuban pygmy owl (Glaucidium siju)

Fossil specimens[]

Kurochkin's pygmy owl (Glaucidium kurochkini) is a fossil species known from the La Brea Tar Pits that likely went extinct during the Quaternary extinction. The supposed prehistoric species "Glaucidium" dickinsoni is now recognized as a burrowing owl, probably a paleosubspecies providentiae. Bones of an indeterminate Glaucidium have been recovered from Late Pliocene deposits in Poland.^[7]

References[]

^ Boie, Friedrich (1826). "Generalübersicht der ornithologischen Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 19. cols 969–981 [970].
^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 127. |volume= has extra text (help)
^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 6.
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ Salter, J.F.; Oliveros, C.H.; Hosner, P.A.; Manthey, J.D.; Robbins, M.B.; Moyle, R.G.; Brumfield, R.T.; Faircloth, B.C. (2019). "Extensive paraphyly in the typical owl family (Strigidae)". The Auk. 137 (ukz070). doi:10.1093/auk/ukz070.
^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Owls". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
^ Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe (PDF). Prague: Ninox Press. p. 215.

External links[]

Pygmy owl information
Mountain Pygmy Owl
Mountain Pygmy Owl "eyes in back of head"
Ferruginous pygmy owl
Colima pygmy owl
Eurasian pygmy owl
"Big fight over tiny owl" - CNN/AP article on pygmy owl's endangered species status in Arizona
' Pygmy Owls Archived 2015-07-15 at the Wayback Machine - documentary produced by Oregon Field Guide
The Neblina Pygmy owl - 2018 BBC internet article on new species found in the Pico da Neblina National Park, Brazil

[1] Boie, Friedrich (1826). "Generalübersicht der ornithologischen Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 19. cols 969–981 [970].

[2] Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 127. |volume= has extra text (help)

[3] Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 6.

[4] Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[5] Salter, J.F.; Oliveros, C.H.; Hosner, P.A.; Manthey, J.D.; Robbins, M.B.; Moyle, R.G.; Brumfield, R.T.; Faircloth, B.C. (2019). "Extensive paraphyly in the typical owl family (Strigidae)". The Auk. 137 (ukz070). doi:10.1093/auk/ukz070.

[ioc-6] Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Owls". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 May 2021.

[7] Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe (PDF). Prague: Ninox Press. p. 215.

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