Cinnamon Screech-Owl

The cinnamon screech owl is a small screech owl, 23 to 24 cm (9.1 to 9.4 in) long and weighing 88 to 119 g (3.1 to 4.2 oz). Adults have a warm brown facial disc with a blackish border and the rest of the face is buffy. They have dark brown eyes, a blue-gray bill, and medium-length "ear" tufts. Their upper parts are cinnamon brown with fine darker brown and buffy vermiculation. The wings and tail are cinnamon with brownish and blackish bars. Their undersides are a rich cinnamon buff with some warm brown wavy marks on the throat and chest. No juvenile has been described.

According to the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy, the cinnamon screech owl is only known to occur on the eastern slope of the Andes from southern Ecuador into northern Peru. However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS/SACC) also places it in Colombia. It may also occur further south in Peru. It inhabits humid montane forest at elevations between 1,650 and 2,225 m (5,413 and 7,300 ft) in Ecuador and 1,700 and 2,450 m (5,580 and 8,040 ft) in Peru.

The cinnamon screech owl is nocturnal, like most others of its genus. Almost nothing is known about its hunting practices or diet, though the latter includes large arthropods and probably small vertebrates.