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Typical owls
Grey morph Collared Scops Owl Otus bakkamoena
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae Vigors, 1825
Genera
some 25, see text
Synonyms
Striginae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist

Typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy unites the Caprimulgiformes with the owl order; here, the typical owls are a subfamily Striginae. This is unsupported by more recent research^{[citation needed]}, but the relationships of the owls in general are still unresolved.

The nearly 200 species are assigned to a number of genera, which are in taxonomic order:

• Genus Otus - scops owls; includes Megascops, some 65 species
• Genus Pyrroglaux - Palau Owl
• Genus Gymnoglaux - Cuban Screech Owl
• Genus Ptilopsis - white-faced owls, 2 species
  • Northern White-faced Owl, Ptilopsis leucotis
  • Southern White-faced Owl, Ptilopsis granti
• Genus Mimizuku - Mindanao Eagle Owl
• Genus Bubo - horned owls, eagle owls and fish owls; includes Nyctea, Ketupa and Scotopelia but possibly polyphyletic, some 25 species
• Genus Strix - earless owls, some 15 species
• Genus Ciccaba - 4 species
  • Mottled Owl, Ciccaba virgata
  • Black-and-white Owl, Ciccaba nigrolineata
  • Black-banded Owl, Ciccaba huhula
  • Rufous-banded Owl, Ciccaba albitarsis
• Genus Lophostrix - Crested Owl
• Genus Jubula - Maned Owl
• Genus Pulsatrix - spectacled owls, 3 species
  • Spectacled Owl, Pulsatrix perspicillata
  • Tawny-browed Owl, Pulsatrix koeniswaldiana
  • Band-bellied Owl, Pulsatrix melanota
  • Pulsatrix arredondoi - fossil (Late Pleistocene of Cueva de Paredones, Cuba)
• Genus Surnia - Northern Hawk Owl

• Genus Glaucidium: pygmy owls, about 30-35 species
• Genus Xenoglaux - Long-whiskered Owlet
• Genus Micrathene - Elf Owl
• Genus Athene - 2-4 species (depending on whether Speotyto and Heteroglaux are included or not)
• Genus Aegolius - saw-whet owls, 4 species
• Genus Ninox - Australasian hawk-owls, some 20 species
• Genus Uroglaux - Papuan Hawk
• Genus Pseudoscops - Jamaican Owl and possibly Striped Owl
• Genus Asio - eared owls, 6-7 species
• Genus Nesasio - Fearful Owl
• Genus Mascarenotus - Mascarene owls, 3 species; extinct (c.1850)
• Genus Sceloglaux - Laughing Owl; extinct (1914?)
• Genus Grallistrix - Stilt-owls, 4 species; prehistoric
  • Kaua‘i Stilt-owl, Grallistrix auceps
  • Maui Stilt-owl, Grallistrix erdmani
  • Moloka‘i Stilt-owl, Grallistrix geleches
  • O‘ahu Stilt-owl, Grallistrix orion
• Genus Ornimegalonyx - Caribbean giant owls, 1-2 species; prehistoric
  • Cuban Giant Owl, Ornimegalonxy oteroi
  • Ornimegalonyx sp. - probably subspecies of O. oteroi

Fossil strigids:

• Mioglaux (Late Oligocene? - Early Miocene of WC Europe) - includes "Bubo" poirreiri
• Intutula (Early/Middle Miocene of WC Europe) - includes "Strix/Ninox" brevis
• Alasio (Middle Miocene of Vieux-Collonges, France)

Placement unresolved

• "Otus" wintershofensis - fossil (Early/Middle Miocene of Wintershof West, Germany) - may be close to extant genus Ninox (Olson 1985:131)
• "Strix" edwardsi - fossil (Late Miocene of La Grive St. Alban, France)
• "Asio" pygmaeus - fossil (Early Pliocene of Odessa, Ukraine)
• Strigidae gen. et sp. indet. UMMP V31030 (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Kansas, USA) - Strix/Bubo? (Feduccia 1970)
• Ibiza Owl, Strigidae gen. et sp. indet. - prehistoric (Late Pleistocene/Holocene of Es Pouàs, Ibiza) - see Sánchez Marco 2004

The supposed fossil heron "Ardea" lignitum (Late Pliocene of Germany) was apparently a strigid owl, possibly close to Bubo (Olson 1985:167). The Early - Middle Eocene genus Palaeoglaux from west-central Europe is sometimes placed here, but given its age it is probably better considered an own family for the time being.

• Feduccia, J. Alan (1970): Some birds of prey from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas. Auk 87(4): 795-797. PDF fulltext

• Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The fossil record of birds. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 79-238. Academic Press, New York.

• Sánchez Marco, Antonio (2004): Avian zoogeographical patterns during the Quaternary in the Mediterranean region and paleoclimatic interpretation. Ardeola 51(1): 91-132. PDF fulltext

• ITIS - Strigidae Taxonomy
• Typical owl videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Strigidae sounds from the Neotropics on xeno-canto.org