The Cuban pygmy owl (''Glaucidium siju'') is a species of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

in the family

Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family (biology), family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls and bay owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Cuba.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Cuban pygmy owl has three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, the nominate ''Glaucidium siju siju'', ''G. s. turquinense'', and ''G. s. vittatum''.

Description

The Cuban pygmy owl is long. Males weigh and females . It has two color morphs, gray-brown and rufous; the former is more common. Both morphs have a pale grayish face, whitish to cinnamon "brows" over yellow eyes, and a pair of dark "false eyes" on the nape. The nominate gray-brown morph's crown, sides of the head, and back are grayish brown with white spots; the shoulders have diffuse dark barring. The tail is also grayish brown, with white bars. The throat is brown, the sides of the breast and flanks brown with darker bars, the center of the breast white, and the rest of the underparts off-white with dark brown streaks and spots. The rufous morph replaces the gray-brown with cinnamon. ''G. s. turquinense'' is much darker and has fewer spots on the upperparts. ''G. s. vittatum'' is larger than the nominate and the barring on the shoulders is more defined.Holt, D. W., R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. L. Enríquez, J. L. Petersen, J. L. Rangel Salazar, K. P. Segars, K. L. Wood, G. M. Kirwan, and J. S. Marks (2020). Cuban Pygmy-Owl (''Glaucidium siju''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cupowl1.01 retrieved September 6, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The Cuban pygmy owl is the most common and most frequently observed owl in the country. The nominate subspecies is found throughout the main island of Cuba except on its highest mountain, Pico Turquino. Subspecies ''G. s. turquinense'' is found only on that mountain and ''G. s. vittatum'' on the

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

(Isle of Pines) and possibly the

Guanahacabibes Peninsula Guanahacabibes Peninsula is the westernmost point on the island of Cuba. It is located in Pinar del Río Province, in the municipality of Sandino, and is sparsely populated. The waters surrounding the peninsula are important spiny lobster and r ...

. The species inhabits the interiors and edges of coastal, deciduous, and

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

, both primary and secondary. It is also found in areas such as pastures with scattered trees, cultivated fields, plantations, and large city parks. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The Cuban pygmy owl is active in both daytime and the night. It hunts from a perch; though its diet has not been studied in detail, it appears to feed mostly on insects and small reptiles, and also takes small mammals, birds, and frogs.

Breeding

The Cuban pygmy owl nests in the dry season of November to April. It lays a clutch of three or four eggs in a tree cavity, either natural or one previously used by a woodpecker. The female incubates the eggs.

Vocalization

The Cuban pygmy owl has two known vocalizations. The male sings "a series of more or less equally spaced notes similar to the song of the

mountain pygmy owl The mountain pygmy owl or northern pygmy owl (''Glaucidium gnoma'') is a small species of owl from the family Strigidae. They reside throughout southern Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. There is current taxonomic debate regarding its classificati ...

(''Glaucidium gnoma'')". Both sexes make an apparent alarm call, "a rapid and accelerating series of rather higher-pitched, squeaky-sounding notes".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Cuban pygmy owl as being of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. Though its population has not been quantified, it is considered fairly common to common. It is " versely affected by destruction of small patches of woodland".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q634656 Cuban pygmy owl Endemic birds of Cuba Cuban pygmy owl Taxonomy articles created by Polbot