**4.3 Eurasian scops owl** *Otus scops* **(Linnaeus, 1758) (IUCN red list: LC)**

The following are explained in **Figure 11**. Iraq

Status: Fairly widespread breeding summer visitors and passage migrants.

**Figure 7.**

*An adult little owl Athene noctua (ad-Dukhoul) in Syria (race A. n. bactriana). Photo © Ahmad Aidek.*

**Figure 8.** *An adult little owl Athene noctua near Haditha-Rutba road in extreme Western Iraq (race A. n. bactriana). Photo © Omar Al-Sheikhly.*

*Queens of the Night, the Owls of Iraq and Syria - Species, Current Distribution,… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109571*

#### **Figure 9.**

*An adult little owl Athene noctua in Najaf Desert of southwestern Iraq (probably of the race A. n. bactriana). Photo © Ali N. Al-Barazangi.*

**Figure 10.** *An adult little owl Athene noctua in the hills of Teeb in southeastern Iraq (race A. n. lilith). Photo © Omar Al-Sheikhly.*

**Figure 11.** *Distribution of Eurasian scops owl Otus scops in Iraq and Syria.*

Literature records: Basra, Nasirijeh, Museyib, Hilla, Amara, and Fao [1, 43],

Habbaniya [56], Khanaqin [4, 5], Barzan and Chowarta [3], and near Mosul [9]. Recent records: Baghdad and Baquba.

Syria

Status: Summer visitor breeding and passage migrant. Spread in all regions except dry areas of Al-Badia. It occurs in small numbers roosting on the trees.

Literature records: Ras Al-Baseet, Qatana [22], Bloudan [57], Talila Reserve [29, 58], Damascus [17], Jabal Abd Al-Aziz [30], and Deir ez-Zor [55].

Recent records: Al-Ghariyeh, Al-Qlatiyeh, aj-Jankeil, Drekeish, Homs, Sreijes (**Figure 12**).
