LC
Tawny-bellied Screech-owl Megascops watsonii



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2018 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency high
Land-mass type Average mass 129 g
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 7,600,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - suspected -
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) 1-25% - - -
Generation length 7 years - - -

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. 1996).

Trend justification: This species is suspected to lose 15.2-19.7% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (21 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Bolivia extant native yes
Brazil extant native yes
Colombia extant native yes
Ecuador extant native yes
French Guiana extant native yes
Guyana extant native yes
Peru extant native yes
Suriname extant native yes
Venezuela extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland major resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Swamp suitable resident
Altitude 0 - 800 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Tawny-bellied Screech-owl Megascops watsonii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tawny-bellied-screech-owl-megascops-watsonii on 18/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/12/2024.