Mucarito de Puerto Rico

Hi everyone!

It's a beautiful Sunday here in Puerto Rico and our prompt for today was given to us by Kirsty,

eyes is the word for you this week at Our Beautiful World.

Recently this little fellow was brought to my husbands care at the Clinic

he is an endemic species of the island

The Puerto Rican Screech Owl or Múcaro is a nocturnal endemic owl of the archipelago of Puerto Rico belonging to the Megascops genus of the Strigidae family.

Scientific name: Megascops nudipes

 

isn't it adorable!!!

and just so you know how small he is take a look at the proportions of its beak and the pen

now here's the science info, if you want to learn more

 

The Puerto Rican Screech Owl is a small owl poseessing a brown upperside, a light-brown to white underside white brown lines and white eyebrows. Sexual dimorphism is minor in this species with females being slightly larger than males. On average, males weigh 137 g and females 143 g. The species measures from 23 to 25 cm in length.

The species is common in the island of Puerto Rico but is extirpated at the nearby islands of Vieques and Culebra. As with the majority of birds in Puerto Rico it is believed to have been more abundant before the clearing of forests for agricultural development in the early 20th century. It inhabits forests with large hollowed trees such as the Caribbean National Forest.

The breeding season spans from April to June. It nests in hollowed trunks and 1 or 2 eggs are deposited in each nest.

The main diet of the species consists of large insects and is complemented with small birds, geckos and small rodents.

The species calls throughout the year while hidden in thick foliage, typically at dawn. The species makes a loud coo-coo call which is the reason for its common name in the Virgin Islands.

I can't wait to see your eyes...

don't forget to share them with us at

Milagros