HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
This is a Spectacled Owl from the recent Veracruz trip. Spectacled owls are boldly patterned, unsociable owls of tropical forests of Central and South America. This one flew silently in to check us out from its perch high in the canopy, and suffered to have its photo snapped illuminated only by a flashlight, and no magnification. They sport an excellent Latin name: Pulsatrix perspicillata, meaning “female pulsating one” referring to its accelerating pup-pup-pup-upupup call (Pulsatrix-perspicillata-1.mp3), and “conspicuous”, referring to its striking markings.
(Top photo A. Shock, Three Star Owl.)
To the left is a clearer photo of what a Spectacled owl looks like in daylight, taken in the London Zoo.
[…] that makes a strange, rapidly pulsating noise like a ray-gun, pwup-pwup-pwup-pwup. Click on this previous post for etymological details of its scientific […]