Scops-owls are Strigidae (typical owls) belong to the genus Otus.
There is a single North American species - the Flammulated Owl
As usual for owls, female scops-owls are usually larger than the males of their species, with owls of both sexes being compact in size and shape. All of the birds in this genus are small and agile. Scops-owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees. Some are polymorphic, occurring in a greyish- and a reddish-brown morph.
Scops-owls are primarily solitary birds.
As opposed to screech-owls, scops-owls have only a single type of call. This consists of a series of whistles or high-pitched hoots, given with a frequency of 4 calls per second or less, or of a single, drawn-out whistle. Calls differ widely between species in type and pitch, and in the field are often the first indication of these birds' presence, as well as the most reliable means to distinguish between species. Some, like the recently-described Serendib Scops-owl (Otus thilohoffmanni), were discovered because their vocalizations were unfamiliar to experts in bird-calls.
