Foothill Screech-Owl

The foothill screech owl is 20 to 23 cm (7.9 to 9.1 in) long and weighs 91 to 128 g (3.2 to 4.5 oz). The subspecies are reddish brown to brown with paler bellies, and most have both a pale and a dark morph. The intensity of the reddish cast varies among the subspecies as do the amount and pattern of streaks and spots on the upperparts and vermiculation on the underparts.

The subspecies of the foothill screech owl are found thus:

M. r. roraimae, Guianan Shield tepuis of southern Venezuela, southern Guyana, Suriname, and adjacent northern Brazil M. r. pallidus, coastal mountains of northern Venezuela M. r. napensis, Andean foothills of Venezuela, eastern Colombia, and eastern Ecuador M. r. helleri, eastern Peru M. r. bolivianus, northern Bolivia The foothill screech owl inhabits dense humid to wet rainforest, though exact details have not been documented. In elevation it mostly ranges between 250 and 1,500 m (820 and 4,920 ft) and rarely up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

The foothill screech owl's hunting practices have not been documented. Its diet is mostly insects and other arthropods and perhaps includes small vertebrates.