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The Owls of Ecuador

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Neotropical Owls

Abstract

Species richness of owls (Strigiformes) in Ecuador is remarkably high (28 species) despite its small territory (c. 280,000 km2). This diversity is not evenly distributed across mainland Ecuador, with higher species richness in tropical areas, humid forests, and pristine habitats. Only two species occur in the Galapagos Islands. Although there are no species endemic to Ecuador, the distribution ranges of at least five are primarily confined to Ecuador. The knowledge about Ecuadorian Strigiformes is insufficient. The natural history and distribution of the two Galapagos endemic taxa (Tyto alba punctatissima and Asio flammeus galapagoensis) have been fairly accurately documented. In contrast, little has been published on continental owl species. Currently, only two species are considered as globally threatened or near threatened and five as threatened at a national level. Nonetheless, poor knowledge about populations, habitat use, natural history, distribution, and vulnerability to extinction might have precluded accurate assessments of the conservation status of several species. We suggest further investigating the basic ecology, distribution, populations, and relationships with human of Ecuadorian owls, in order to better understand their current conservation status.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Paula Enríquez for inviting us to prepare this chapter and for her help with bibliography; to Ana Charpentier, Pablo Sánchez, Mitch Lysinger, Alejandro Solano, Catherine Vits, Héctor Cadena, Paolo Piedrahita, and Niels Krabbe for sharing unpublished data; and to Tjitte de Vries, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Alejandro Solano-Ugalde, José Luis Rangel-Salazar, and two anonymous referees for their comments on this manuscript. J. F. Freile thanks Fundación Numashir, Percy Sladen Memorial Fund (Linnean Society of London), Gobierno Provincial de Pichincha, Heimo Mikkola, and Neotropical Bird Club for supporting owl research in Ecuador; to John Blake, Jordan Karubian, and David Johnson (Global Owl Project) for their contributions to owl research; and to Paola Moscoso, Santiago Varela, Diego Castro, Scott Walter, Beto González, Mike Darkes, Luke Browne, and Julio Loor for fieldwork. T. Santander and E. Guevara thank the support and facilities provided by Aves & Conservación to prepare this manuscript.

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  1. Comité Ecuatoriano de Registros Ornitológicos, Pasaje El Moro E4–216 y Norberto Salazar, Tumbaco, Ecuador

    Juan F. Freile

  2. Aves y Conservación, Joaquín Tinajero E3-05 y Jorge Drom, Quito, Ecuador

    Esteban A. Guevara & Tatiana Santander

  3. Secretaría de Ambiente DMQ, Río Coca E6-85 y Genovesa, Quito, Ecuador

    Cecilia Pacheco

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  1. Juan F. Freile
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Correspondence to Juan F. Freile .

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  1. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

    Paula L. Enriquez

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Freile, J.F., Guevara, E.A., Pacheco, C., Santander, T. (2017). The Owls of Ecuador. In: Enriquez, P. (eds) Neotropical Owls. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57108-9_10

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