Western Screech-Owl

SCI Name:  Megascops kennicottii
Protonym:  Scops Kennicottii Proc.Acad.Nat.Sci.Philadelphia 19 p.99
Taxonomy:  Strigiformes / Strigidae / Megascops
Taxonomy Code:  wesowl1
Type Locality:  Sitka, Alaska.
Author:  Elliot
Publish Year:  1867
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.

kennicotti / kennicottii
Robert Kennicott (1835-1866) US naturalist, explorer, collector, co-founder of the Chicago Academy of Sciences (Megascops, subsp. Pedioecetes phasianellus, syn. Phylloscopus borealis).

SUBSPECIES

Western Screech-Owl (Northern)
SCI Name: Megascops kennicottii [kennicottii Group]
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.

Western Screech-Owl (Vinaceous)
SCI Name: Megascops kennicottii vinaceus
vinaceus
L. vinaceus  of wine, vinaceous  < vinum, vini  wine.

Western Screech-Owl (Sutton's)
SCI Name: Megascops kennicottii suttoni
suttoni
● George Miksch Sutton (1898-1982) US ornithologist, collector, bird artist (subsp. Accipiter striatus, subsp. Aimophila ruficeps, subsp. Aphelocoma californica, subsp. Arremon brunneinucha, subsp. Buteo jamaicensis, syn. Euphonia hirundinacea, subsp. Megascops kennicottii, subsp. Turdus assimilis).
● John Sutton (1866-1938) Australian banker, ornithologist, Assistant/Curator of Birds at South Australian Mus. 1923-1938 (syn. Calamanthus campestris).