NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mountain Scops Owl
Otus spilocephalus (Blyth, 1846)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The mountain scops owl (Otus spilocephalus), sometimes referred to as the spotted scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Its range extends across much of south and southeast Asia, from Pakistan and the Himalayas in the northwest, through Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia in the east and south.
The nominate subspecies of the eastern Himalayas has a distinct more russet plumage.
It is an altitudinal migrant.
The owls have a short high-pitched call like a two-note whistle, "plew-plew" or "he-he", although the female's songs are rarely heard. Their calls also differ between geographic population.
Wikipedia contributors, Mountain scops owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:13:10.768192+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Otus spilocephalus (Blyth, 1846)
- Name authority
- (Blyth, 1846)
- Common name
- Mountain Scops Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Otus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- subfamilyStriginae
- genusOtus Pennant, 1769
- speciesOtus spilocephalus (Blyth, 1846)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Otus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rajah Scops OwlOtus brookii (Sharpe, 1892) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pallid Scops OwlOtus brucei (Hume, 1872) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Elegant Scops OwlOtus elegans (Cassin, 1852) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Enggano Scops OwlOtus enganensis Riley, 1927 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Everett's Scops OwlOtus everetti (Tweeddale, 1879) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Palawan Scops OwlOtus fuliginosus (Sharpe, 1888) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sao Tome Scops OwlOtus hartlaubi (Giebel, 1872) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sandy Scops OwlOtus icterorhynchus (Shelley, 1873) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Morden's OwletOtus ireneae Ripley, 1966 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rinjani Scops OwlOtus jolandae Sangster, B. F. King, Verbelen & Trainor, 2013 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sunda Scops OwlOtus lempiji (Horsfield, 1821) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Luzon Scops OwlOtus longicornis (Ogilvie-Grant, 1894) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ephialtes spilocephalus Blyth, 1846 Blyth, 1846 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555367 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4B8JR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.