Proposal (1063.1) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for South American Bubo, part 2

Our first attempt at this was inconclusive, including several candidate names proposed after many or most people had already voted. Let’s do ranked choice, with 1 for preferred and so on.

The original version is included, in gray, below this version, and so please see that for comments.

Recognize that there are problems with every one of these proposed names. We’re just looking for the one that causes the fewest problems because in my opinion, there aren’t any really good names for any of these. No matter which one comes out on top, there will be some “outrage” out there.

A. B. nigrescens

a. Paramo (majority votes first round, but this was before Gary objected because it’s not really a páramo species and suggested Montane instead).

b. Sooty

c. Montane (see Gary’s comments on previous version)

d. Andean (late addition -- see Josh Beck’s comments below)

B. B. magellanicus

a. Lesser

b. Magellanic

c. Austral

C. B. nacurutu

a. Campo (fairly soundly trounced in original proposal but included here for completeness)

b. Orange-eyed (see Pam’s comments in previous proposal)

c. Tropical

d. Neotropical

e. South American

f. Nakurutu (see Oliver Patrick’s comments in previous proposal)

g. Brazilian

Van Remsen, September 2025

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Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart1044+.htm

Comments from Andrew Spencer (guest voter):

“A) nigrescens

1. Montane. The best compromise option.

2. Sooty. I went back and forth between this and Paramo as option number 2, and while I like the sound of Paramo the best, it's also the least accurate.

3. Paramo. See above.

“B) magellanicus

1. Magellanic. This is the name I learned for the bird starting way back when I first became aware of it as a potential split, and it has some history. I also think it's the "best sounding" of the options here. Sure, the species occurs outside the classic area of "Magellanic" things, but I'm not generally concerned about that given that the bulk of range is the Southern Cone.

2. Austral. I'd also be fine with this name, especially since it is the most "austral" of the Horned Owls.

3. Lesser. I never particularly liked this name, and I would not be sad to see it go.

“C) nacurutu

1. Neotropical. By far the hardest of the three species to pick a favorite, and none of the options really stand out for me. This seems like the least bad of the bunch, but I'd be ok with any of my top 3 choices here.

2. Nakurutu. If I wasn't as concerned about pronunciation, this would be my first choice. I'm a bit worried, based on Oliver Patrick's comment, that the correct spelling would be ‘Ñacurutu’, which is not a particularly easy word to say in English. Even if we adopt a spelling without the tilde, there would still be ambiguity over the correct pronunciation. That said, I do like the novelty of using Nakurutu as the common name. It sounds cool, and it has a good connection to the indigenous populations that have been interacting with the species far longer than anyone else.

3. Brazilian. The lion's share of the range of the species, and a perfectly acceptable if less than ideal name.

4. Tropical. Somewhat accurate, but boring.

5. Orange-eyed. Seems like too many caveats for this to be a great choice. Some birds have orange-y eyes, some don't. Some nigrescens are also a bit orange, etc. etc.

6. Campo. Low on my list for reasons stated in the first proposal.

7. South American. We're discussing names for three Bubo species endemic to South America. Giving this name to one of them is a poor choice in my opinion.”

Comments from Remsen:

“A. nigrescens

1. Montane (as noted by Andrew, a better description of habitat, and more symmetrical with my other choices in terms of region/habitat names); note context – this is with respect to the other Horned Owls – it is the only one restricted to montane habitat.

2. Andean (if it were the only Bubo in the Andes and if it were more widespread, then this might be better than Montane, but too much of magellanicus distribution in Andean)

3. Sooty

4. Paramo (pending additional comments from others as to suitability. I recognize that it’s not restricted to páramo, but does it really occur there?)

“B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic (already in use since 2022 in the field guide for the country that has most of its range; nice match with scientific name; not too far off from being a reasonable description of range)

2. Austral (close second)

3. Lesser (sorry, I just can’t get past calling the third largest owl in the continent “Lesser” anything even though I recognize that the name is context-dependent, i.e. with respect to Horned Owls)

“C. nacurutu

1. Tropical (somewhat insipid and far from perfect, but an appropriate foil to the other two names; it is the only one of the three Horned Owls that is found primarily in the tropics in terms of climate and latitude, although the southern portion of its distribution in Argentina, Uruguay, etc., is indeed south of the Tropic of Capricorn. This is one of those “lesser of all evils” choices just because the others seem to have more problems. Note that “Tropical Owl” would indeed be a terrible name, so the context is critical – “Tropical Horned Owl” places it in proper context relative to other Horned Owls.

2. Nakurutu (although I worry about this one for same reasons as Andrew. Yes, it’s going to be botched by non-Spanish speakers, if indeed there is one correct pronunciation, but ornithology has survived botched pronunciations of Paramo, Bogota, Varzea, and other Spanish/Portuguese names used in English bird names, and those who speak other languages are capable of learning the correct syllable to accent if nothing else. I like the onomatopoetic part of this in emphasizing vocal differences.)

3. Orange-eyed (maybe not diagnostic but points to something of interest biologically; it may not be always useful in field identification but who says all descriptive names must be of use in identification in the field? In fact, Pearman and Areta (Birds of Argentina) pointed out the difference in iris color between it (orange) and magellanicus (yellow), so it must be of some usef in the field.

4. Brazilian (not very good; although more of its distribution is in Brazil than any other, that it occurs in another 7-8 countries makes “Brazilian” nearly unacceptable)

5. Campo (thoroughly trounced in previous comments but not as bad as next two)

6. South American (misleading - technically this could be applied to any of the three species and is as useless as ‘South American Snipe’ was. If the split were two ways, namely a North American virginianus and a South American nacurutu with a boundary in Panama, then South American would be a good name for the B. nacurutu group). All three South American Horned Owls are “South American horned owls”

7. Neotropical (absolutely unacceptable -- this word applies to a broad biogeographic realm that includes the entire ranges of the other two South American species and is thus inappropriate. It refers to a biogeographic region, not a habitat, and ALL THREE South American Bubo are “Neotropical horned owls”, regardless of elevation or latitude within the Neotropics. If the split were two ways, namely a Nearctic virginianus and a Neotropical nacurutu with a boundary in northern Middle America, then Neotropical would be a good name for the B. nacurutu group).

“’Neotropical’ is the adjectival form of a proper place name in biogeography, the Neotropical Biogeographic Realm or Neotropical Region (and as such should always be capitalized as are adjectival forms of all place names in English (unlike Spanish). Many journal editors and authors seem unaware of this. See link for definition and map”:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotropical_realm

Comments from Donsker:

“A. B. nigrescens
1. Paramo 
2. Montane
3. Sooty.

“B. B. magellanicus
1. Lesser
2. Magellanic
3. Austral

“C. B. nacurutu
1. Nakurutu
2. Orange-eyed 
3. Campo
4. Brazilian
5. South American
c. Tropical
d. Neotropical”

Comments from Josh Beck (voting for Naka): “"These are some of the largest and most iconic owls on the continent. I don't think we are going to coin three new names that are as cool as Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, but within the options we have I prefer names that have a bit of cachet where possible, rather than perhaps more accurate but less evocative names. I have particular hesitation about Orange-eyed for nacurutu given the lack of certainty of species limits and individual IDs in the potential contact areas in CO. I started looking into records and trying to judge shades of sootiness or find recordings and came up with no meaningful conclusions other than, as pointed out, questions remain. "Without too much effort I found photos from Andean (at least mid-elevation) regions that seemed mountainous enough and were sooty enough looking to make you think they would be nigrescens but also had darker / more orange / amber eyes.

“A. B. nigrescens

1. Andean - If Montane is not viewed as problematic despite magellanicus also being a montane species for part of its range, why not name the mountains then? Andean Condor is a better name than Montane Condor, surely. Bubo might not be as iconic as Condors are but this is also not a Beardless-Tyrannulet species we are discussing. Andean seems, to me, to be the more evocative as well as more precise/accurate name.

2. Montane

3. Sooty - Despite it also potentially applying to a form from North America, there seems to be very little if any precedent for that use, and I find it less problematic than Paramo.

4. Paramo - I view this as misleading for this species.

“B. B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic - I believe Lesser is a more recent name and it's perceived greater traction is quite recent. Until 10 years ago or so, I heard Magellanic used more frequently. Also, quite frankly, it's a "cooler" and more evocative name and (I believe) tells you more.

2. Lesser - Put me in the camp that does not care for this name, it just seems mundane, and no one is going to ID this bird by size relative to other Bubo. Is it even certainly smaller than nigrescens and nacurutu? If it is not actually the smallest of the four this would be my 3rd choice and I would move Austral up.

3. Austral - It would be unnecessarily disruptive to coin a third name for this species at this point when two are quite well established already.

C. B. nacurutu

1. Nacurutu or Jacurutu - I think this is an excellent idea. But probably not spelled Nakurutu. As far as I am aware throughout Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay the species is known pretty much everywhere as Ñacurutú and I at least have not seen it spelled with a k. In Brazil it is Jacurutu or Joao-curutu as far as I have heard/seen. Given that these are all presumably transliterations/permutations of what was previously a non-written language and given that Nakurutu is not the current prominent usage, I would favor Nacurutu or Jacurutu.

2. Tropical

3. Brazilian

4. Campo

5. South American

6. Neotropical

7. Orange-eyed - for reasons given above

Comments from Areta:

“A. B. nigrescens

1. Montane: well, if this is not a páramo species, then the name Paramo becomes an unhappy choice. If the species does occur in páramo as often as in montane forest, I´d be happy to rank Paramo Horned Owl as my first option.

2. Sooty

3. Andean: I prefer Montane over Andean. It is not a widespread Andean taxon, and Andean would possibly be better for magellanicus than for nigrescens. I´d rank it below Sooty.

4. Paramo: see comments on Montane

B. B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic

2. Austral

3. Lesser

C. B. nacurutu

1. South American

2. Neotropical

3. Tropical: well, the species is not exactly tropical. Tropical Screech-Owl is also not precisely tropical, so I´d rather avoid this name.

4. Orange-eyed

5. Brazilian: why are we insisting on these absurd Brazilianphylic names?

6. Nakurutu: I have also thought about this one well before Oliver Patrick´s comment. But I discarded it because the name is not nakurutu but rather ñacurutú (the ñ and the final accent making it sound very differently). In Argentina, the common name for the species is precisely Ñacurutú (or Ñakurutú if one wishes), while the common name for magellanicus is Tucúquere. Both names seem onomatopoeic. In several places within the Chaco Region, nacurutu is called "Quitilipi", which to my surprise has been considered as onomoatopoeic by the Chaco inhabitants (surprising to me because when I read the name, it makes me think of a high-pitched singer, not deep tone forest-filling hoots as the ones given by nacurutu). So, choosing Nakurutu is basically destroying the name, and I imagine the suffering of Latin Americans while hearing the strange name of a Horned Owl called naquéretiew or even worse approximations. All this being said, I thank Oliver for bringing this to the board of options, and if we could make English speakers pronounce the name Ñakurutú correctly (which would demand that it be spelled as written here), then I would happily endorse it!

7. Campo: solidly trounced in the past, so I am not sure what is doing here.

“Comments from Mark Pearman (voting for Claramunt):

“A. B. nigrescens

1. Paramo (occurs in this and nearby, lower habitats: Paramo is largely restricted to Colombia and Ecuador as is this owl)

2. Sooty (doesn’t really look sooty)

3.5. Andean (magellanicus has a huge range in the Andes)

3.5. Montane (Just too vague! Bubo owls occur in mountains the World over including B. magellanicus to over 3000 m)

“B. B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic (I will go with the consensus on a or b)

2. Lesser

3. Austral (a word that has become almost as samey as cryptic)

“C. B. nacurutu

1. Neotropical (reasonable. Better than c,d,e,f,g)

2. South American (occurs in nine South American countries)

3. Orange-eyed (some nigrescens and magellanicus have orange irides but useless anyway for field identification of a nocturnal owl)

4. Tropical (essentially absent from tropical forest. Needless to say, the tropics cross other continents, so just a token name, less specific than a and b)

5. Campo (as discussed, R.I.P.)

6. Nakurutu (not an English word and one with particular pronunciation difficulties. On good authority, the correct spelling is Njhakurutu which offers more problems, while the Ñ also has a different pronunciation. I would leave this name for Spanish speakers)

7. Brazilian (more than half of the birds in S. America could be called ‘Brazilian’)”

Additional comments from David Donsker: “I'm not at all very satisfied with the English names proposed to date for B. nigrescens.

“Neither of the more recent proposals "Andean" or "Montane" are terribly specific or exclusive. In my opinion, "Montane" is simply too generic and can apply not only to a large range of altitudes, but also to mountainous habitats on at least five different continents. "Andean" is better, but it does not evoke the actual range of this species which is limited to appropriate habitat only within in the northern Andes.

“It's not my intention to suggest any more new names, but it would seem to me that "Northern Andean Horned Owl", "High Andean Horned Owl" or "Subparamo Horned Owl" would be more helpful and/or descriptive.

“Given the choices presented, however, please change my vote to the following:

1. Andean
2. Paramo
3 Montane
4. Sooty”

Additional comments from Remsen: “On nacurutu and ‘Neotropical’ … There is only one bird in the world with the name Neotropical/Neotropic: Neotropic Cormorant. It’s also one of the few birds for which that name is appropriate because it occurs throughout the official Neotropical biogeographic region from Mexico and the Caribbean to southern South America, violating the boundaries only barely in northern Mexico and extreme southern USA. It is the only non-marine cormorant in the Neotropical region. Contrast that with its use with respect to Bubo nacurutu. Further, Neotropical does not distinguish nacurutu from nigrescens or magellanicus, both of which are also Neotropical horned owls.”

Comments from Rasmussen:”

“A. B. nigrescens

1. Paramo: Sure looks like it occurs in paramo at least a significant amount of the time, based on ML photos and eBird map points. Really ties the species to this particular biome and part of the world.

2. Andean

3. Montane

4. Sooty

“B. B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic: Preferred because it is unambiguous regarding the main part of the world in which it occurs, it matches the specific epithet and is already in wide usage.

2. Lesser: Second only because of its wide usage. While smaller than at least many populations of Bubo virginianus s.l., but still a big bird, and the name is somewhat demeaning (though I would likely not advocate changing other long-standing species named "Lesser").

3. Austral: One could make the same first argument here as for Magellanic, but not the other two.

“C. B. nacurutu

1. Tropical: Aptly describes the main life zone it inhabits and contrasts it with that of nigrescens. Only three syllables!

2. Orange-eyed: Distinctive for most individuals (though imperfect). There must be hundreds of photos that clearly show this characteristic in the daytime, and very few of the other taxa that do, so I do think it has some ID value.

3. Brazilian: Describes most of the range but excludes all those other countries.

4. Nakurutu: Too subject to misspelling, mispronunciation, and diacritical problems, and anyway why the k instead of a c?

5. Campo: Describes some of the habitat but not enough.

6. Neotropical: Range is broadly inconsistent with the region's definition, which includes southern Mexico and the Caribbean, and even southern Baja and Florida by some. Also 5 syllables.

7. South American: Not wrong but not the only Horned Owl in the continent. Also 5 syllables and just generally not a great name unless you're really stuck.”

Comments from Stiles:

“A. nigrescens

1. Paramo (I change my vote here because of a 3-day visit to a very large, high páramo (Amorzaderos) and seeing a breeding colony (!) in a series of caves and cliffs at 3580-3590 m and asking Oswaldo Cortés about his experience in the páramo of Sumapaz (this owl is fairly common at 3800-4000 m!)

2. Montane- perhaps the most general, as it also occurs at lower elevations (2000 m+) below the true páramo zone

3, Andean (OK, but hardly distinctive vs Magellanic)

“B. magellanicus

1. Magellanic- the best name due to its previous use and its fit with the Latin name

2. Austral- OK as the bulk of its distribution is more southern than any other species (though it also ranges north into the Andes as far as Perú.

3. Lesser (a specimen-tray name, but rather misleading (it is in any case a big owl, and its slightly smaller size is of little use in the field)

“C. nacurutu

1. Nacurutu- it is the most memorable and distinctive name and sounds "cool" - also chimes with the use of this name (with its various onomatopoeic variants in other S. A. countries (and ties in with its use by indigenous groups). I don't worry about the pronunciation hubbub: as an English name, I see no problem here - in any case, the pronunciation is user-free (and the variants in Spanish or Portuguese names is not part of SACC's purview).

2. Tropical- OK but, as others have noted, rather boring!

3. Orange-eyed: Put it third.. perhaps not so easy to discern without the owl looking right at you at close range - and with that being the case, you presumably know already where you are, in what country, habitat and elevation!

4.5. Neotropical, South American- should be nonstarters as they apply to all 3 species

6.5. Campo, Brazilian - both strongly rejected by other members – to the wastebasket!.”

Additional comments from Remsen:

“A. nigrescens: After Gary’s comments on his recent field experience with this bird, I move ‘Paramo’ up to first choice.

“C. nacurutu: I am no longer concerned about botched pronunciation or spelling. English-speakers botch many Spanish names used as English bird names and ditto many anglicized indigenous names, many of which have no “true” spelling because the original languages had no alphabet, and thus any transcription is only approximate, to my understanding anyway. Tempest in a Teapot, in my revised opinion. I think I’ll still keep ‘Tropical’ as #1, however; insipid as it is, it is still useful as a contrast with the other two South American ‘Horned Owls.’ ”

Additional comments from Areta:

“A. nigrescens: “In my vote I was willing to change back to Paramo if evidence was in favour of it. Now that Gary has changed his stance, I am back to Paramo as well.”

“C. nacurutu: If Nacurutu passes, I regret to say that we should at least spell it as Ñacurutú, and then let people pronounce it whatever way they want. But calling the bird "Nacurutu" is utter nonsense and a lack of respect for the language (or languages) that one is, presumably, trying to honour or follow. If scientific names accepted ñ and ´, then the name would have those.”

Additional comments from Oliver Patrick: “I’m seeing a number of questions on the spelling “Ñakurutu” I proposed—I figure it might make sense to clarify my thought process. I aimed to mirror the indigenous Guarani name “ñakurutû” with three things in mind:

1. preserve the initial sound in Guarani and Spanish “ñ” (Portuguese “nh”)

a. [Note: the Portuguese name is apparently from Old Tupi îakurutu, which was adapted into Brazilian Portuguese as “jacurutu” (initial “î”/‘y’ typically becomes “j” in Portuguese borrowings from Tupi). There is a variant spelling “inhacurutu” per Wiktionary. Given this, preserving the “Ñ” sound in the English name felt worthwhile if possible.]

2. follow the Guarani spelling using “k”, which is an aesthetic choice that highlights the name’s indigenous-language origin

3. while SACC rules allow “Ñ” (as in Marañon) it does not permit other diacritics, e.g. û or ú, so barring a rule change those must be excluded no matter what.

“This led me to Ñakurutu, but I certainly don’t have strong feelings about the exact spelling. From other comments, it seems like “Ñacurutu” represents a fair compromise between correct pronunciation and familiarity of spelling, and this version makes sense to me (as would the simplest alternative Nacurutu). Provided the usage for this species is accurate, I believe that the semantic value of a precise, unique, indigenous-based and historically rooted name helps make an imperfect English pronunciation worth tolerating, as we currently do with names like jabiru and jacana.”

Comments from Zimmer:

“A) B. nigrescens:

1. Paramo: More precise and evocative than “Montane” and less widely used for other taxa.

2. Montane: More mundane, but not inaccurate.

3. Sooty: Not great, since some populations of B. virginianus are sootier still, but at least it ties in with the epithet somewhat.

4. Andean: As others have pointed out, magellanicus also occurs extensively in the Andes, so I don’t think this is a good choice at all.

B) B. magellanicus:

1. Magellanic: Matches the specific epithet, already has a track record of use, and pretty much matches the bulk of this species’ distribution.

2. Austral: This one would work too, but is perhaps slightly less appropriate, and also doesn’t match the epithet or have a track record of usage.

3. Lesser: Boring, and, although not inaccurate, also not of much value in the field.

C) B. nacurutu:

1. Tropical: Perhaps “boring”, but pithy and accurate in describing the Tropical Life Zone where it primarily occurs, and which does not apply to the other two species under consideration here.

2. Orange-eyed: I still like this one. Perhaps it’s my Brazilian perspective showing, but I have yet to see one that didn’t have orange eyes, and the bulk of its range is in Brazil — just sayin’.

3. Nakurutu: Cool name, but my reservations are with both spelling and pronunciation, and the whole issue of diacritical marks. Too much baggage in my opinion.

4. Campo: I may be alone in having any love for this one, but I still like it better than the names that follow.

5. Brazilian: Even though the bulk of its range is in Brazil, it occurs in enough other countries to make this an unwise choice.

6. South American: Meaningless, since it applies equally to all 3 species we are voting on. They are all “South American Horned Owls”.

7. Neotropical: Worst of the lot, for reasons already pointed out by Van. Worse than meaningless, it’s misleading, since the Neotropics is a region, not a Life Zone, and this species does not occur over much of the Neotropics.

Comments from Lane: “In my tour-leading absence, I am impressed by all the verbiage that has been written on this subject since my original proposal! Thanks to all for your thoughts. Here are my votes in light of them:

A. B. nigrescens: I still think Paramo Horned Owl is the best name here. Montane and Andean both are too broad and neither provides any geographic context the way that Paramo does, and B. magellanicus covers far more of the Andes than this taxon does! In addition, my own experience with this species is in line with Gary’s recent comments. It is a species of elfin forest edge of paramo habitats. This may not be a perfect all-encompassing description, but as with any common name we all know that’s impossible. Why discard useful names because they are imperfect? We’ll never find a perfect name for 90% of the world’s birds (I could rattle off a long list of names we use daily without cringing at their imperfections), so why are our English common name discussions so littered with niggling issues poking holes in otherwise useful names (or at least what I think are useful names)? Sooty Horned Owl is my second option, because, yes, there are dark forms within the North American Great Horned Owl, but they are clearly only geographic versions of that species. and the species is not named for those plumages. There is no other Horned Owl that is. In fact, no Bubo outside the Americas is presently called Sooty Eagle-Owl either (although Google suggests the name has been used for B. leucosticta, though I don't see much corroboration), so this is a unique name and not an inaccurate one. None of the other name options presented here are even remotely reasonable in my opinion.

B. B. magellanicus: Lesser Horned Owl is still my first choice. I just saw one of these in Junin, Peru… about 4,300 km away from the Strait of Magellan. Now, I realize that I just argued that imperfect names shouldn’t be discarded, and I realize that we in the ABA area use “Connecticut Warbler” and other ridiculous geographic names without batting an eye, but coining a “new” name that suggests a species is centered in some way on the Magellanic area (which I read as the southernmost part of Patagonia around the Strait of Magellan, correct me if I’m wrong), when this is nowhere near accurate, overwhelms any hypocrisy here. The species is, in fact, the smallest of the four American Horned Owls, and further has tiny feet compared to any of the others. I think “Lesser” is a perfectly fine name, has some track record of use, and counterbalances “Great Horned Owl” nicely. If I have to rank other names for this taxon, I would rank Austral over Magellanic, as it is more accurate in describing the distribution, even if the latter has far more usage in print.

C. B. nacurutu: Campo Horned Owl is still my first choice. I think Nacho has made a strong argument against “Nacurutu” and, frankly, my mild dyslexia has me mis-remembering if it is “-rutu” or –“turu,” as Van can confirm. Mark Pearman's comments against "Campo" have me scratching my head. I have seen this species in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Bolivia, and in all these countries, it seems to prefer tree islands surrounded by open country, though obviously this is not the only habitat in which it can be found. There is no single best word to describe this sort of habitat, but “campo” seems to me to be about as good as it gets, and (happily) the word means something approximately like this in both Spanish and Portuguese! So, even though it is imperfect, I think “Campo” is perhaps the best name for the species of those offered in this proposal. I would rank Tropical as a distant second, and the remaining names are far behind that one. I too have noticed the taxon’s orange eyes, but I find that a cumbersome name to use, and not a useful one in identifying it (if you haven’t figured out which species you have based on where you are and need to see the eyes…<shakes head slowly>), “South American” and “Neotropical” both are just far too broad and not useful at all, and “Brazilian” or any other country name would probably offend the folks from any of the other countries the species occurs in.

Additional comments from Remsen:

“A. B. nigrescens. Based on Dan’s comments, I’m moving Sooty up to #2

“B. B. magellanicus. Dan made some good points, but I’m still holding on to Magellanic as #1 because the species indeed does occur in the Magellanic region, although obviously not limited to it. The Magellanic Region is defined as follows by Google AI: “The term ‘Magellanic region’ most commonly refers to the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region in Chile, a geographic and administrative area in southernmost South America named after the Strait of Magellan. Geographically, it encompasses the southern Andes, islands, the Strait of Magellan, and parts of Tierra del Fuego [type locality for magellanicus], characterized by fjords, glaciers, and subpolar forests. Less commonly, it can refer to other related geographical features like the Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregion or celestial objects like the Magellanic Clouds.” Also, it’s a memorable name, matches the species name, and is the name used by Pearman and Areta in their Argentina field guide, and Argentina has the majority of the distribution of the species.

“C. B. nacurutu. Just some additional rambling comments here. Pearman and Areta (Argentina field guide) described its habitat as “woodlands”, which would make “Campo” a poor name unless it is more of an open country species in Brazil etc. Sick (1993; Birds in Brazil) gave the habitat in Brazil as “forest edge, groves, savanna, usually near water”. Hilty (2003; Venezuela guide) gave the habitat as “mainly in semi-open to mostly open areas with scattered trees, groves of trees or palms, gallery forest borders, and trees around ranch buildings in lowlands.” Being widespread in the llanos, I worry about using a more geographically restricted name like “Campo. As for Nacarutu, remember that we would be creating an English name, not a Spanish or Guarani name, and that in English you just have no know which syllable as accented. English speakers learn reasonably quickly just be paying attention, to the point that I don’t recall anyone in biogeography mispronouncing Chaco or Choco despite the difference in which syllable is accented. Or for the non-biogeographical English-first people, no one seems to have trouble remembering the Mexico is accented differently than Tampico. On the other hand, the “Ñ” part has me more worried. No English word starts this way, and I’d hate to break new orthographical ground on this one. Ñacurutú is the Spanish word, I know, but we would be creating an English name from a Spanish name derived from the alphabet-less Guarani language name, which is an onomatopoetic representation of an owl that does not speak any human language. So, I really don’t worry that much about the English spelling as long as it is known that it is an onomatopoetic name based on an indigenous name … which is kind of cool. And if English-speakers say “nacurutu” instead of “nyacurutu”, I doubt Guarani-first speakers would be offended. Nonetheless, as described by Kevin, maybe there is just too much baggage.”

Comments solicited from Paul Smith: “I'm reluctant to get involved in this obviously contentious issue, but I will say that I agree with Nacho that Nacurutu is not the same as Ñacurutú, and if honouring the Guarani name is one of the stated reasons for choosing that name, then you can't have it both ways by simultaneously not worrying about how it is transcribed or pronounced. Note that in true Guarani there are no accents, and no standard spellings either, so Ñacurutú is a "Spanishized" version of the pronunciation that is in wide use already in regional literature along with Ñakurutû, which reflects the nasal pronunciation at the end of the word. I'm not suggesting any need to be anal about it, but Nacurutu (which is nacka-rootoo) and Ñacurutú (NYA-koo-roo-TOO) are not the same. I will also second the motion that it is a horrible name, not to mention another Guarani based pleonasm like Surucua Trogon and Maguari Stork. Not as bad as Brazilian, Tropical, Orange-eyed or Campo, but bad nonetheless.”

Additional comments from David Donsker: “I’ve been away from this discussion for a while, but am pleased to see how it’s evolved with additional insights. Here is my revised vote:

A. B. nigrescens. I re-revise my ranking to my original choice in face of Gary’s personal observations, and those of Cortés, i.e. that this species, in fact, does breed, and is fairly common, in páramo habitat and 3800-4000 elevation.

1. Paramo
2. Andean
3. Montane
4. Sooty

B. B. magellanicus. I revise my first choice of name to Magellanic. Although its range extends beyond the Southern Cone, Magellanic has seen not inconsiderable historic usage and it is much more compelling than the other, perhaps more “accurate”, choices.

1. Magellanic
2. Lesser
3. Austral

C. B. nacurutu. I stand by my original vote. 
1. Nakurutu
2. Orange-eyed
3. Campo
4. Brazilian
5. South American
6. Tropical
7. Neotropical

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Proposal (1063) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for South American Bubo

It seems that proposal 1052 may pass with Bubo virginianus being split four ways: North American B. virginianus, northern Andean B. nigrescens, southern Andean/Patagonian B. magellanicus, and lowland B. nacurutu. If decision passes, we will need new English names for the resulting daughter species. Here are my suggestions.

Of the four daughter species, the North American B. virginianus still accounts for perhaps 2/3 of the total occupied distribution, and I believe retaining Great Horned Owl may be the favored position for most. But since this taxon is not in South America, this is a decision for NACC to make, and it is not really relevant to us. The remaining three species are:

A) Bubo nigrescens. As the name suggests, it is dark blackish in color. It is also found primarily around treeline in the northern Andes from Colombia to northernmost Peru. So, my first choice of name would be Sooty Horned Owl, but Paramo Horned Owl might be a close second. Blackish Horned Owl is a more direct translation of the scientific name, but the bird isn’t really all that blackish, just colder and darker than most other populations in the Americas.

B) Bubo magellanicus. Primarily an Andean bird as well, this species is found from northwestern Peru south to Tierra del Fuego. A direct translation of its scientific name would be Magellanic Horned Owl, and this has been adopted by many authors (e.g., Jaramillo 2003, Konig and Weick 2008—although there they use “Magellan Horned Owl”—, Pearman and Areta 2020). The species extends well north of Patagonia, where the name “Magellanic” seems most appropriate, so it isn’t the best descriptor in my mind. An alternate name that I have seen applied is Lesser Horned Owl (e.g., Clements et al. 2025, Gill et al. 2025, Roesler 2024). Most populations are smaller, the southernmost one significantly so (contrary to Bergman’s Rule), than other American Bubo, and it balances Great Horned Owl nicely, so I would tend to favor the latter name. Of course, if “Great Horned Owl” is not the name retained for the North American species, this is no longer a valid reason! Alternatively, Austral Horned Owl might fit as well, but given the other two names have already been used widely by authors recognizing the split, it might be best to stick with one of those.

C) Bubo nacurutu. This is a harder bird to easily sum up in a one-word descriptor, but given it is primarily found around the edges of open habitats, or sometimes in clusters of trees surrounded by Llanos, Pantanal, Caatinga, Cerrado, etc., it seems to me that the habitat-based name Campo Horned Owl may be the best descriptor. Alternatively, something like Brazilian Horned Owl (much of the bird’s distribution is in Brazil) could be employed.

Recommendations

So, the above are my reasoning and first choices of English names for the daughter species of Bubo. The following is the voting slate:

A) Sooty Horned Owl for B. nigrescens (YES to accept/NO if you prefer another option)

B) 1. Lesser Horned Owl or 2. Magellanic Horned Owl for B. magellanicus, or 3. NO if you prefer another, third option, and please elaborate)

C) Campo Horned Owl for B. nacurutu (YES to accept/NO if you prefer another option)

Literature Cited

Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Jaramillo, A. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

König, C., and F. Weick. 2008. Owls of the World. Second Edition. Pica Press, Sussex, England.

Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2025. IOC World Bird List (v15.1).

Pearman, M. and J. I. Areta. 2020. Birds of Argentina. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Roesler, I. (2024). Lesser Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman and F. Medrano, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grhowl2.01.1

Dan Lane, September 2025

Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart1044+.htm

Comments from Rasmussen (voting for Robbins): “Here are my votes on the English names for Bubo virginianus splits:

“A) NO. I think Sooty is OK, as that applies more or less to adults, less so to one of the pair in ML619088511 though. I found the respective ranges of this and northern nacurutu confusing in Colombia, so I made this gallery of high-elevation birds: https://tinyurl.com/4ec5xk2f, and all the adults except that one mentioned above are mostly sooty.

“That raised the question of the identity of birds of the upper Magdalena Valley, e.g. the lower-elevation area in orange, and the range map in Hilty is not clear or perhaps implies that it is nigrescens:

“But I think this gallery: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?birdOnly=true&view=grid&assetId=403130471%2038149101%20323817381

answers that question, as they do not look at all sooty, in my opinion.

“I really prefer Paramo, which, assuming these valley birds are indeed nacurutu, seems very appropriate. So NO to Option 1, with a preference for Paramo for nigrescens.

“B) YES to Lesser Horned Owl, already in wide usage and appropriate. Magellanic Horned Owl is less appropriate, given its much wider and more northerly distribution.

“C) YES, this seems a good name although not otherwise currently used in bird names to refer to species of northern South America. We’ll see if someone suggests a better name.

“In a related matter, this voting process led me to realize that all the major lists are in error with respect to the range of Bubo virginianus mesembrinus, which hardly if at all occurs in Costa Rica and Panama. See Dyer and Howell CR guide (Appendix), and Olson 1997 (https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/69889116-92d8-49a4-a211-a2a52bdca4b7/content). Thus, it seems quite unlikely that Bubo virginianus s.s. would stray to South America, since its true (or at least normal) southern range limit appears to be northwestern Nicaragua. (And it is correct in the 1998 BNA account! https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/managed-content/bna-pdfs/BNA-372-grhowl.pdf). NACC modified the range in Central America correctly in 2000.”

Comments from Donsker (voting for Bonaccorso):

“A. Bubo nigrescens. NO for Sooty Horned Owl. Although this descriptive name is certainly suitable, it could equally be assigned to the dusky coastal Pacific Northwest subspecies of Great Horned Owl, B. virginianus saturata. I would prefer Paramo Horned Owl which is uniquely appropriate for this species and clearly assigns it to it habitat in South America.\

“B. Bubo magellanicus. YES for Lesser Horned Owl adopted by both Clements and IOC-WBL. Although I rather like Magellanic Horned Owl personally, its range extends beyond the southern cone and Lesser Horned Owl nicely contrasts with Great Horned Owl.

“C. Bubo nacurutu. A reluctant YES for Campo Horned Owl. My main reservation is that “campo” really isn’t properly applicable to this species' habitats in northern South America. But since it is quite appropriately applied to its habitat in much of the southern part of its range, and I don’t think that there is one universal term that encompasses all of its South American regional habitats, I’d accept this as the least inappropriate proposed English name that at least does invoke its South American distribution.”

Comments from Remsen:

“A. NO, for the reasons outlined by Pam, and also because Paramo is a better, much more South American name in my opinion. Also, “Sooty” is easily construed as modifying “Horned” rather than “Owl.”

“B. 2 for Magellanic Horned Owl. “Lesser” is utterly mundane and seems awkwardly applied to one of the biggest owls in South America. Further, without a hyphen in the name, we don’t know whether it applies to the “horns” or the owl itself. Magellanic may be a stretch in terms of its distribution, but so are many other geonyms. Magellanic has already been in use in Pearman and Areta (2020), the field guide for Argentina, which is the country that contains most of the species’ distribution. “Magellanic” is the way it has been referred to in my circles even before the Pearman and Areta book. It would also give a symmetrical South American flavor that parallels Paramo and Campo for this trio of endemic South American Bubo. A minor bonus is that Magellanic matches the scientific name, which thus enhances remembering both.”

“C. YES for Campo -- my reasoning matches David’s above, although I am concerned about whether this is really a “campo” bird – can someone please elaborate.”

“And then there is another issue: do we hyphenate the group name as our guidelines suggest? Indeed, this is one of those cases in which a hyphen serves to remove ambiguity (i.e., the proper grammatical use of hyphens) – empirically, every one of us has seen the frequently mis-spelling representation of B. virginianus as “Great-horned Owl” precisely because of that ambiguity. Naturally, I refer you to my magnum opus on hyphenation in group names.” By the way, I see that Google AI now clearly and simply explains the rationale for a hyphen. Nail-in-coffin. Yield, lowly humans.”

Comments from Zimmer: “

“A. Sooty Horned Owl for B. nigrescens. “NO. I much prefer “Paramo Horned Owl”, both as an intrinsically better name, and, as noted by David, that the name “Sooty” is more appropriately applied to some northwestern populations of North American virginianus.

“B. “YES for Magellanic Horned Owl, given the precedent and the nice pairing with the scientific name, but I would be fine with “Lesser Horned Owl” (admittedly, somewhat boring), or even “Austral Horned Owl”.

“C. “YES for Campo for B. nacurutu. Although the wide range of lowland habitats occupied by nacurutu do not all fit within the strict definition of campo, I don’t think there is one habitat term that covers all habitats that these birds occur in. “Savanna” would perhaps be an alternative, but then, it doesn’t cover caatinga habitats either. Also, there are lots of different types of campos, at least as the term is applied in Brazil (campo sujo, campo-cerrado, campo rupestre, campinarana, etc), so I think there is some wiggle room there. Also, it has some novelty to it.”

Comments from Mark Pearman (guest voter):

“A. Bubo nigrescens. NO to Sooty Horned Owl, which is a decent name, but only because Paramo Horned Owl edges it for me in being more appropriate as explained by Pamela and David.

“B. Bubo magellanicus. I’m on the fence with this one and have used both Magellanic and Lesser Horned Owl in publications. While the species is best known in Patagonia, seeing it in distant high Andean ranges, or even 5000 km from the Magellan Straits on the Argentine-Bolivian border, has dampened my spirit for using Magellanic Horned Owl. I vote for Lesser Horned Owl due to smaller body size and smaller ear-tufts which are both notable in the field when you know other members of the genus. 

“C. Bubo nacurutu. NO to Campo Horned Owl. In all Spanish-speaking South American countries, Campo means a field and it is most often used in an agricultural context. “En el campo” is used to mean “in the field”. In Argentina, the term Campos (note the plural) indicates an area of rolling grassland with palms, not a representative habitat of nacurutu. With nacurutu being a forest or woodland bird that requires trees for breeding unlike nigrescens and magellanicus, it’s a bit much to suggest that by using this Spanish word Campo in the name, we assume that there will be trees nearby that can be used by this owl, and that we should infer that “Campo” implies this. Meanwhile, Kevin Zimmer mentioned the Brazilian habitat terms that include the word campo, such as rocky fields and scrubby fields, and which to my mind are not the habitat of B. nacurutu either. In sum, I find the name Campo HO to be entirely inappropriate.

“My thoughts on the suggested name “Brazilian Horned Owl” are likewise negative given that the species has a huge distribution outside of Brazil in ten countries, covering most all of South America except Patagonia, Chile, the high Andes, and Amazonia.

“Perhaps therefore, we just need a name that just demonstrates a very widespread distribution in South America given that its vast range in many types of woodland-forest habitats. I would endorse either Neotropical Horned Owl (even though the Neotropics extend further than the species range) or South American Horned Owl, leaving the hyphen issue aside.”

Additional comments from Remsen: “Following Mark’s comments, I change my vote on C to NO.”

Comments from Areta:

“A. Paramo Horned Owl: I prefer this one over Sooty.

“B. Magellanic Horned Owl: I prefer this one over Lesser, which as Kevin mentioned is rather boring. True, this owl extends over the Andes and far away from the Magellanic region, but the habitats are rather similar everywhere. It also matches the scientific name, something I adore.

“C. South American Horned Owl: as Mark Pearman described, Campo is completely inaccurate as a descriptor of the habitats that this owl use and can only result in confusion (for people speaking Spanish and Portuguese at least). Think of Campo Flicker, which is a true inhabitant of open areas, unlike B. nacurutu, which needs forest (and often riparian forests!) to breed. Campo Horned Owl is even more problematic than the already inaccurate Pantanal Snipe.”

Comments from Oliver Patrick: “I wanted to throw out the idea of adapting the specific epithet to the English name, yielding something like Ñakurutu Horned Owl. The scientific name originates with Old Tupi îakarutu, modern Guaraní ñakurutû, and variants (jacurutu, ñacurutú) are used in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, so the name has some historical and international credibility. Per Clements, Argentina specifically differentiates this name from magellanicus, which is “tucuqueré”.

“From my perspective, using Ñakurutu or a variant would be unique, appropriate, and memorable, and has the added benefit of incorporating some indigenous cultural knowledge. “Ñakurutu Horned Owl” is technically tautological, but no worse than Nanday/Jandaya/Tui Parakeets or Yelkouan Shearwater, which we use without any problem.

“Here is the type description:

“The relevant part (from Google Translate):

‘The HIBOU NACURUTU, Strix nacurutu, Vieill. , pl. enl. de Bufl, n.° 383, under the name of owl of the Magellanic lands. The name under which I describe this bird is the one it bears in Paraguay, and which seems to me to be generic for several owls. The Brazilians call it ja-curutu. It has a total length of seventeen inches…’ (P. 44)

“On P. 45, the author (Vieillot?) goes on to describe the ‘HIBOU NACURUTU TACHETÉ, Strix maculata, Vieill., is found in Paraguay; it is described by Mr. d'Azara under the name nanacurutu tacheté…’.

“From the plumage description, I think this second reference is to Asio clamator. So, if Vieillot did not mistakenly correct nanacurutu to nacurutu, at first glance it seems like ñakurutu could be used for both “horned” owls in the area.

“Confused, I did further research to clarify the situation. No other bird I could find on BotW uses any variant of nacurutu as a name (including Asio clamator), although Pulsatrix species are named “murucututu” in Portuguese. I read into AviBase and found that jacurutu and sucurutu are in fact listed as alternate Portuguese names for what BotW calls Coruja-orelhuda, Asio clamator. However, I think it’s very significant that the Guaraní listing for Asio clamator on AviBase is Ñakurutû’i, with ‘i as a diminutive, literally “Little Bubo nacurutu”. 

“Given this, my interpretation is that the name “Ñakurutû” originally referred to Bubo but might have been confused by non-Tupi-Guarani speakers with “Ñakurutû’i”, yielding Vieillot’s reference to nacurutu being “generic for several owls”. This would also match vocalizations, as nacurutu is a far better mnemonic for Bubo’s song than clamator’s single or double “whoo”. It’s also possible that modern usage has more firmly limited nacurutu and its variants to Bubo nacurutu. Either way, I’d be interested to hear from Brazilian or Guaraní-speaking ornithologists whether Ñakurutu Horned Owl holds water.”

Additional comments from Rasmussen: “I put together some galleries for Bubo species (attached). When I used unique localities for nigrescens, there weren't very many, partly because they seem to have their eyes closed most of the time. Strangely, that doesn't seem to be true for nacurutu! I haven't quantified that, but maybe, just maybe, nacurutu is more diurnal? I also have the impression that nacurutu has a narrower head and that the eyes take up more of the face; I'm guessing that nacurutu has less dense feathering, related to its habitats. It also seems like the white throat patch is more obvious on nacurutu than on nigrescens, and that the underparts have heavier black barring in nigrescens than in the others. (I haven't checked published descriptions, though.)

“In the galleries I selected adults for which the iris color is visible, and which are likely unique individuals, but it's quite time-consuming and probably not worth it to make sure of that, so there could be a few dupes. 

“In doing this, it became clear that the iris color difference is a pretty good character for nacurutu, but not a terrific one. Quite a few nacurutu have yellowish irides, but by far the most orangey ones are nacurutu. A few nigrescens overlap with the yellower nacurutu. I didn't see any magellanicus or virginianus that were at all orange-eyed, although a few are more golden than average, but most virginianus have rather pale yellow eyes, no matter where they come from. I also noticed that what is obviously the same bird can appear more golden- or pale yellow-eyed in different people's photos, likely due to editing. Thus, it would be difficult to quantify this accurately.

“In summary, there's definitely a strong tendency for nacurutu to have orange irides, and any bird with really orange irides should be nacurutu. So, Orange-eyed would be an OK name, but I still prefer Tropical.

“Tinyurl for Bubo nigrescens unique adults with irides visible:

https://tinyurl.com/yyvzx5da

for Bubo nacurutu unique adults with irides visible:

https://tinyurl.com/e285yze9

For Bubo virginianus s.s.:

https://tinyurl.com/yznd8wwp

Comments from Stiles:

“A. nigrescens: NO: if Sooty is counted out, a habitat-based name could be preferred. "Paramo" at least directs attention to SA, but is a poor fit for its preferred habitat, which is high Andean forest (arriving at the interface, but not within paramos). Montane is a better, more general descriptor in the context of South America.

“B. magellanicus: Magellanic is best: it has a fairly strong track record of previous use and fits with the Latin name (always a plus! Lesser H-O is to me a "study-tray" note and I´d prefer leaving it there. It is of little use in the field (if anything, is confusing given that the bird itself is a big owl!). 

“C. nacurutu: NO. If campo seems too ambiguous, I like Oliver Patrick´s suggestion of Nacurutu (minus the esoteric diacritical marks)! It is catchy, distinctive and memorable, and could make more fun for tour guides to give to their clients! It also fits with the Latin name.”