The Story
I photographed this Stygian Owl (Asio stygius) at La Macarena, Meta, Colombia. It lives in a wide range of landscapes from sea level to 3,000 meters, including cloud forest, thorn scrub and even city parks. Most of its diet is birds, which it is thought to catch on their night roosts. It also takes bats, frogs and insects. As far as is known it is resident throughout its range. The Sierra de la Macarena is home to about 420 bird species, along with eight species of primates.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600, +1 EV. IUCN lists the Stygian Owl as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Stygian Owl (Asio stygius) belongs to the family Strigidae (Owls) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2023), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List