Megascops ater ( Hekstra, 1982 )

Dantas, Sidnei M., Weckstein, Jason D., Bates, John, Oliveira, Joiciane N., Catanach, Therese A. & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2021, Multi-character taxonomic review, systematics, and biogeography of the Blackcapped / Tawny-bellied Screech Owl (Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii) complex (Aves: Strigidae), Zootaxa 4949 (3), pp. 401-444 : 428

Megascops ater ( Hekstra, 1982)

Belém Screech-Owl

corujinha-de-belém (Portuguese)

Otus atricapillus ater Hekstra, 1982 : Browning (1989); holotype at USNM examined .

Megascops watsonii watsonii (Cassin, 1848) : Dickinson & Remsen (2013).

This taxon name (type locality Belém, Pará, Brazil) corresponds to Clade D identified herein, being restricted to the Belém AOE, east from the Tocantins River to Maranhão, Brazil. Statistical support for reciprocal monophyly and significant degree of coalescence of M. ater with respect to the other species in the complex was high in all analyses. Average uncorrected pairwise p-distances between M. ater and the other sampled lineages ranges from 2.1% ( M. stangiae ) to 6.7% ( M. watsonii ). Morphologically highly variable, with brown and dark morphs predominant. Dark morphs in M. ater similar to M. watsonii dark morphs, but with narrower ventral stripes. Vocally not safely distinguishable from any of the other species in the complex recognized herein. The proposed common name is a reference to the Area of Endemism in which this species is endemic. The Belém AOE is the most deforested sector of the entire Amazon ( Silva et al. 2005), with deforestation still ongoing. Therefore, the conservation status of M. ater must be urgently evaluated, as it could already be endangered.