Tawny-browed Owl

At the very end of our first day in Itatiaia National Park in Brazil, we added a new species for the trip as we stepped out of the bus upon returning to our hotel.

We heard it calling in the trees in the hotel garden. It was easy to spot this bird. It was a large owl, called a tawny-browed owl. To my North American ears and eyes the tawny-browed owl looked like a barred owl had been stuffed into the skin of a juvenile saw-whet owl, but the bird sounded like a hoarse eastern screech-owl.

We spent about ten minutes watching the owl. I snapped a few images and took this short video, too.