 | Parts of this article (those related to screech owl evolution, taxonomy, and systematics) need to be updated. (September 2019) |
| Screech owl Temporal range: Miocene to present
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|---|---|
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| Eastern screech owl, Megascops asio Rufous morph | |
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| Gray morph | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Megascops Kaup, 1848 |
| Type species | |
| Strix acio Linnaeus, 1758
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| Species | |
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Some 22, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Macabra Carlo Bonaparte, 1854 | |
Screech owls are typical owls (Strigidae) belonging to the genus Megascops with 22 living species. For most of the 20th century, this genus was merged with the Old World scops owls in Otus, but nowadays it is again considered separately based on a range of behavioral, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA sequence data.
Screech owls are restricted to the Americas. Some species formerly placed with them are now considered more distinct (see below for details).
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