Pacific Screech-Owl

SCI Name:  Megascops cooperi
Protonym:  Scops cooperi Proc.U.S.Natl.Mus. 1 p.116
Taxonomy:  Strigiformes / Strigidae / Megascops
Taxonomy Code:  pasowl4
Type Locality:  Santa Ana, Costa Rica.
Author:  Ridgway
Publish Year:  1878
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MEGASCOPS
(Strigidae; Ϯ Eastern Screech Owl M. asio) Gr. μεγας megas, μεγαλη  megalē  great; genus Scops Brünnich, 1772, owl. "5tes Subgenus. Megascops, Kp., Asiones, Schleg.  Schnabel vorgestreckt. Flügel kurz und stumpf. 1ste Schwinge so lang wie die 10te. 1ste bis 5te Schwinge an der Aussen- und Innenfahne deutlich ausgeschnitten. Fusswurzel befiedert. Zehen meist vollständig nackt.   8. Scops asio, Gr. Less." (Kaup 1851). The Eastern Screech Owl and its New World congeners were formerly placed in the genus Scops (= Otus).   
Synon. Athene, Gymnasio, Pseudociccaba.

cooperi / cooperii
● William Cooper (1798-1864) US zoologist, collector, conchologist, founder member of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York (Accipiter, ?syn. Calidris acuminata x C. ferruginea, Contopus, subsp. Myiarchus tyrannulus).
● Dr James Graham Cooper (1830-1902) US ornithologist (son of William Cooper), botanist, explorer, collector (syn. Buteo jamaicensis harlani, syn. Melospiza melodia heermanni, subsp. Piranga rubra, syn. Podiceps grisegena holboellii).
● Coopers Camp, Melville I., Northern Territory, Australia (subsp. Gavicalis virescens, syn. Myiagra ruficollis mimikae).
● “I have named this species, at the request of Mr Zeledon, the collector of the type-specimens, after Mr Juan Cooper, of Cartago, Costa Rica, a particular friend of his, to whom he is much indebted for many interesting contributions to his collections” (Ridgway 1878) (Megascops).
● "adult male donated by Major A. L. Cooper, by whom it was collected near Salisbury, S. Rhodesia [= Zimbabwe], early in August, 1947" (Roberts 1947) (syn. Pternistis swainsonii x Pternistis afer) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz).

SUBSPECIES

Pacific Screech-Owl (lambi)
SCI Name: Megascops cooperi lambi
lambi
Chester Converse Lamb (1882-1965) US zoologist, Assistant Curator of Mammals, Mus. Vertebrate Zoology 1925-1932, collector in Mexico (syn. Aimophila ruficeps canescens, subsp. Asio stygius, subsp. Catharus occidentalis, syn. Dendrocopos scalaris, subsp. Megascops asio, subsp. Nyctibius jamaicensis).

Pacific Screech-Owl (cooperi)
SCI Name: Megascops cooperi cooperi
cooperi / cooperii
● William Cooper (1798-1864) US zoologist, collector, conchologist, founder member of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York (Accipiter, ?syn. Calidris acuminata x C. ferruginea, Contopus, subsp. Myiarchus tyrannulus).
● Dr James Graham Cooper (1830-1902) US ornithologist (son of William Cooper), botanist, explorer, collector (syn. Buteo jamaicensis harlani, syn. Melospiza melodia heermanni, subsp. Piranga rubra, syn. Podiceps grisegena holboellii).
● Coopers Camp, Melville I., Northern Territory, Australia (subsp. Gavicalis virescens, syn. Myiagra ruficollis mimikae).
● “I have named this species, at the request of Mr Zeledon, the collector of the type-specimens, after Mr Juan Cooper, of Cartago, Costa Rica, a particular friend of his, to whom he is much indebted for many interesting contributions to his collections” (Ridgway 1878) (Megascops).
● "adult male donated by Major A. L. Cooper, by whom it was collected near Salisbury, S. Rhodesia [= Zimbabwe], early in August, 1947" (Roberts 1947) (syn. Pternistis swainsonii x Pternistis afer) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz).