Birdfinding.info ⇒ Locally common, often near limestone slopes and outcrops where it uses natural caves for nesting. Sometimes found in cities, including Santo Domingo, and resort areas, including Punta Cana, usually in areas with many palm trees. The most consistent site appears to be the road to Paraíso Caño Hondo at Sabana de la Mar. Other areas where it has been reported often include: the Monte Plata palm plantations; middle elevations of Alcoa Road; the trail at La Placa; and side-roads leading inland from Route 44 between Barahona and Oviedo (including the road up to Cachote).
Ashy-faced Owl
Tyto glaucops
Endemic to Hispaniola and Tortue, where it occurs in various types of woodland and semiopen habitats, especially areas with palm trees.
Distribution within Hispaniola is incompletely known. It is generally thought to occur throughout the island, but to be most numerous in two regions: from Santo Domingo eastward; and in the foothills of the Sierra de Bahoruco (but this may reflect a bias of relatively high nighttime coverage in these two areas).
Identification
Similar to the much more familiar American Barn Owl, which also occurs on Hispaniola, but somewhat smaller, with different coloration: richer buffy underparts, more uniformly brown upperparts, and the eponymous ashy-gray facial disk.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Rabo de Gato Trail, Dominican Republic; November 11, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
The gray facial disk contrasts strongly with the color of its outer rim, which is a rich rusty or tawny color.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Villa Mella, Dominican Republic; March 2005.) © Pedro Genaro Rodríguez
The upperparts appear mostly dark brown. When spread, however, the upperside of the wing appears rusty with darker bars.
Ashy-faced Owl, showing serpentine barring on the underparts. (Paraíso Caño Hondo, Dominican Republic; March 31, 2017.) © James Moore
Dark speckles on the underparts tend to form bars in a broken but regular serpentine pattern.
The underside of the wing is pale-gray with darker bars.
Ashy-faced Owls, mating, showing pale-gray underwings. (Rabo de Gato Trail, Dominican Republic; November 11, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Notes
Monotypic species. Some authorities (e.g., Kirwan et al. 2019) regard the Lesser Antillean Barn Owl (T. insularis) as conspecific.
More Images of the Ashy-faced Owl
Ashy-faced Owl. (Paraíso Caño Hondo, Dominican Republic; January 6, 2017.) © Robert Tizard
Ashy-faced Owl. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; February 13, 2016.) © Andrew Spencer
Ashy-faced Owl. (Los Patos de Barahona, Dominican Republic; March 21, 2008.) © Miguel A. Landestoy T.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Samaná, Dominican Republic; January 23, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Los Haitises National Park, Dominican Republic; January 26, 2014.) © Dubi Shapiro
Ashy-faced Owl, showing rusty tones on the upperside of is flight feathers. (Rabo de Gato Trail, Dominican Republic; November 11, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Samaná, Dominican Republic; January 23, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Santa Cruz de Barahona, Dominican Republic; May 12, 2014.) © Paul Noakes
Ashy-faced Owl. (Samaná, Dominican Republic; January 23, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 24, 2019.) © Jay McGowan
Ashy-faced Owl, calling and showing the depth of its gape. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 24, 2019.) © Jay McGowan
Ashy-faced Owl. (Pedernales, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2015.) © Alan Van Norman
Ashy-faced Owl. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 24, 2019.) © Jay McGowan
Ashy-faced Owl. (Rabo de Gato Trail, Dominican Republic; November 11, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Rabo de Gato Trail, Dominican Republic; November 11, 2011.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; December 15, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Ashy-faced Owl. (Paraíso Caño Hondo, Dominican Republic; March 15, 2016.) © Ross Gallardy
Ashy-faced Owl. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 24, 2019.) © Jay McGowan
Ashy-faced Owl, showing undersides of its wings. (Villa Mella, Dominican Republic; March 2005.) © Pedro Genaro Rodríguez
Ashy-faced Owl. (Paraíso Caño Hondo, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2019.) Anonymous eBirder
References
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed June 13, 2019.)
Kirwan, G.M., A. Levesque, M. Oberle, and C.J. Sharpe. 2019. Birds of the West Indies. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
König, C., and F. Weick. 2008. Owls of the World (Second Edition). Yale University Press, New Haven.
Mikkola, H. 2013. Owls of the World: A Photographic Guide (Second Edition). Firefly Books, London.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.