Photo: Antonio Amaral
The Black-banded Owl is a strigiform bird of the Strigidae family. Also known as the Black-banded Mocho. It measures between 36 and 40 cm (male) and between 38 and 41 cm (female) and weighs between 330 and 400 g (male) and between 411 and 480 g (female). Its wingspan is 243 to 280 millimeters. The facial disc is black and densely marked with concentric white lines, with the rim and eyebrows finely sprinkled with whitish and black. The eyes are dark brown with pinkish skin on the eyelids. The chin has a blackened spot. The forehead and crown to the lower back are densely marked with narrow, wavy whitish bars. Flight feathers are sooty brown with some paler bars. Primary feathers are distinctly darker than the rest of the plumage. Tail feathers are sooty dark brown with 4-5 narrow white bars and a white terminal band. The legs have fringes at the base of the toes with black and white spotting. The claws are bare and yellowish.