Mexican Spotted Owl

Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) Other Names Spotted Owl Texas Status Threatened U.S. Status Threatened, Listed 3/16/1993 Description Unlike most owls, Mexican spotted owls have dark eyes.

Mexican Spotted Owl Strix occidentalis lucida Unlike most owls, Mexican spotted owls have dark eyes. The Mexican spotted owl is an ashy-chestnut brown color with white and brown spots on its abdomen, back and head.

MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL Strix occidentalis lucida STATUS: Threatened DESCRIPTION: Unlike most owls, Mexican spotted owls have dark eyes. They are an ashy-chestnut brown color with white and brown spots on their abdomen, back and head.

Mexican Spotted Owls (the group present in Texas) may nest in a wider variety of sites than other subspecies, narrow canyons, cliff ledges and mistletoe clumps.

In 1990 the USFWS listed the Northern Spotted Owl as Threatened, and Mexico also recognizes the Mexican Spotted Owl as Threatened.

For several summers in the 1990s, I worked as a contract biologist surveying for Mexican Spotted Owls in the Southwest. During those nocturnal surveys, I came across many different species of owls from Spotteds to Flammulateds.

Other common names: Arizona Spotted Owl (lucida); Mexican Spotted Owl (lucida); California Spotted Owl (occidentalis); Northern Spotted Owl (caurina); Western Barred Owl; Wood Owl.

Spotted Owls are described as three subspecies, the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), the California Spotted Owl (S. o. occidentalis), and the Mexican Spotted Owl (S. o. lucida) (Am. Ornithol. Union 1931, 1957).

The three sub-species of Strix occidentalis are Strix occidentalis caurina (Northern Spotted Owl), Strix occidentalis occidentalis, and Strix occidentalis lucida (often referred to as the Mexican Spotted Owl).

See also: Spotted Owl, Owl, Mice, Barred Owl, Gopher