Typical Owls (Strigidae)

Eurasian Scops-owl (Otus scops) - HBW 5, p. 163

French: Petit-duc scops German: Zwergohreule Spanish: Autillo Europeo
Other common names: European/Common Scops-owl

Taxonomy: Strix Scops Linnaeus, 1758, Italy.
Probably forms superspecies with O. brucei, O. senegalensis, O. sunia and O. flammeolus. Formerly considered to include O. mirus, O. longicornis, O. mindorensis, O. brucei, O. senegalensis, O. sunia, O. mantananensis, O. elegans, O. umbra, O. enganensis and even O. hartlaubi, all now shown to be separated specifically by voice and, in some cases by DNA. Six subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

scops (Linnaeus, 1758) - France, Italy and C Mediterranean islands E to Volga R, S to N Greece, N Turkey and Transcaucasia; intergrades with pulchellus.
pulchellus (Pallas, 1771) - Volga R E to L Baikal, S to Altai and Tien Shan.
mallorcae von Jordans, 1923 - Iberia, Balearic Is, NW Africa (NC Morocco to Tunisia).

See all 6 subspecies

scops (Linnaeus, 1758) - France, Italy and C Mediterranean islands E to Volga R, S to N Greece, N Turkey and Transcaucasia; intergrades with pulchellus.
pulchellus (Pallas, 1771) - Volga R E to L Baikal, S to Altai and Tien Shan.
mallorcae von Jordans, 1923 - Iberia, Balearic Is, NW Africa (NC Morocco to Tunisia).
cycladum (Tschusi, 1904) - S Greece and S Asia Minor, S to C Israel and Jordan.
cyprius (Madarász, 1901) - Cyprus.
turanicus (Loudon, 1905) - Iraq and Iran (and perhaps this race SE Turkey) E to NW Pakistan.