The Owls of Colombia – International Owl Awareness Day
Colombia has the most diverse avifauna in the world with more than 1950 species of birds, of which 28 are owls. This makes Colombia one of the countries with the greatest number in the region along with Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. In the Neotropical region, 84 species of Strigiformes have been described, representing 34% of the 250 known species in the world (König et al. 2008).
Colombia’s complex topography includes five major natural regions identified by their physical characteristics: relief, vegetation, climate, and soil conditions. These are the Andes region and inter-Andean valleys, Caribbean, Pacific, Orinoco, and Amazon.
The species of owls are regionally represented as follows: Andes region and inter-Andean valleys (23 species), Caribbean region (15 species), Pacific region (10 species), Orinoco region (10 species), and Amazon region (10 species). The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (four species) is also considered an important subregion being an isolated mountain system.
Of the 28 species of owls present in Colombia, we are considered Vulnerable (VU) Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl and Santa Marta Screech-Owl.
Check some pictures of these amazing birds
