The Screech Owls 
No. 216b California Coast Screech Owl 
A. O. U. No. 373c. Otus asio bendirei (Brewster). 
Synonym.— Bendire’s Screech Owl. 
Description. — Adult: With more or less conspicuous ear-tufts. General 
plumage finely mottled brownish gray, boldly striped with black; above, the tone 
produced by fine mixture of light ochraceous, pale grayish white, and dusky; black 
streaks centrally on feathers, heavily and finely on head, more sparingly on back and 
wings; outer webs of outer scapulars and greater coverts chiefly white, appearing as 
large rounded spots; quills coarsely barred, fulvous and dusky on outer webs, more 
obsoletely and sparingly on inner; underparts chiefly dull whitish, marked coarsely 
with central streaks of blackish, and finely and irregularly cross-barred with the same— 
the effect on the sides of the belly is as though the bird were covered with crawling 
insects having narrow black bodies and four or five pairs of black legs set at varying 
angles; middle of belly and lining of wings dingy white or palest tawny, nearly immacu¬ 
late; facial disc not sharply set off from surrounding plumage, although defined by rim 
of brownish, its feathers” white with black shafts around base of bill, white with fine 
herring-bone pattern of blackish distally. Bill blackish paling on tip; claws horn-color, 
darkening on tips; iris yellow. Immature: Entire plumage, except quills and rectrices, 
finely barred dusky and whitish. Length of adult 203.2-247.6 (8.00-9.75); male: 
wing 161.9 (6.37); tail 81.1 (3.19); bill from cere 14.1 (.555); female: wing 166.2 (6.55); 
tail 84.1 (3.31); bill from cere 14.7 (.579). 
Remarks. —This form, unlike 0. a. typicus, 0. a. ncevius, and many other full 
species of the genus Otus, has no rufescent or “red” phase. Its color tone, in fact, is 
singularly uniform. But Mr. Grinnell has pointed out that there is a noticeable 
gradation in tone from the darker and warmer specimens of the northwestern part of the 
State through average specimens of the Bay region, to lighter and grayer birds from 
Walker’s Pass and the vicinity of Los Angeles; and he has given the name 0. a. quercinus 
to the last-mentioned. There is no doubt that the tendency exists, but it is occasionally 
contradicted by local exam pies, and I do not follow Mr. Grinnell in according it a 
separate name. 
Recognition Marks. —Robin size, but appearing larger; ear-tufts—“horns”— 
with size, distinctive in range; darker and browner than 0. a. gilmani. 
Nesting. — Nest: An old woodpecker hole or natural cavity in stub or tree, 
usual'y at moderate elevations. Sometimes lined indifferently with casts, trash, and 
leathers. Eggs: 2 to 4; subspherical, white. Av. size 35 x 30 (1.38 x 1.18). Season: 
March—May; one brood. 
Range of Otus asio. —Temperate North America, breeding from Sitka, Alaska, 
southeastern British Columbia, and northern border of the eastern states, south into 
northern Mexico. 
Range of 0. a. bendirei. —“California, except southeastern desert region (and, 
probably, northern coast district) and south central Oregon (Fort Klamath)” (Ridgway). 
Distribution in California. —Resident in Upper Sonoran and Transition zones 
west of the Sierran divide. Most common in San Diegan district and along the inner 
coast ranges south of San Francisco Bay. Also common along the timbered foothills 
of the western Sierras north to Shasta. It is purely a matter of opinion whether 
specimens from Eureka should be referred to bendirei or to brewsteri of the Oregon 
Coast. 
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