Belongs within: Strigidae.
Otus, scops owls, is an Old World genus of owls with distinct ear tufts, long wings, and feathered toes.
<==Otus Pennant 1769M02 [incl. Ephialtes Keysserling & Blasius 1840B94, Scops Savigny 1809B94; Otinae, Scopinae]
|--O. ireneaeBKB15
`--+--+--O. spilocephalusBKB15 [=Scops spilocephalusS89]
| | |--O. s. spilocephalusA72
| | `--O. s. huttoniA72
| `--+--+--O. megalotisBKB15
| | `--O. semitorquesBKB15
| `--+--O. gurneyiUSDI77 [=Mimizuku gurneyiBKB15]
| `--+--O. lettiaBKB15 [=O. bakkamoena lettiaA72, Scops lettiaS89]
| `--+--O. bakkamoenaBKB15 [incl. Scops griseus Jerdon 1844A72]
| | |--O. b. bakkamoenaI92
| | |--O. b. deserticolorA72
| | |--O. b. gangeticusA72
| | |--O. b. marathaeA72
| | |--O. b. plumipesA72
| | |--O. b. pryeri (Gurney 1889)I92
| | `--O. b. stewartiA72
| `--O. lempijiBKB15
`--+--O. suniaBKB15 [=O. scops suniaA72]
`--+--+--+--O. bruceiBKB15 [incl. O. exiguusA72]
| | `--O. scops (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, M02 [=Strix scopsM02, Noctua scopsF17]
| | |--O. s. scopsA72
| | |--O. s. leggeiA72
| | |--O. s. modestusA72
| | |--O. s. nicobaricusA72
| | |--O. s. pulchellusA72
| | `--O. s. rufipennisA72
| `--+--O. pembaensisBKB15
| `--O. senegalensis (Swainson 1837)BKB15, M-PG70 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--O. elegansBKB15
`--+--+--O. longicornisBKB15
| `--+--O. mindorensisBKB15
| `--O. mirusBKB15
`--+--+--O. moheliensisBKB15
| `--O. paulianiBKB15
`--+--O. insularisBKB15
`--+--O. rutilusBKB15 [=Scops rutilusS66]
`--+--O. capnodesBKB15 [=O. rutilus capnodesUSDI77]
`--O. mayottensisBKB15
Otus incertae sedis:
O. alfrediJT12
O. aliusJT12
O. angelinaeJT12
O. asio (Linnaeus 1758)FP64, L58 [=Strix asioJ23]
O. balliJT12
O. beccariiJT12
O. brookiiJT12
O. cholibaS18 [=Scops cholibaSS66; incl. Strix crucigeraSS66]
|--O. c. cholibaE52
`--O. c. luctisonusE52
O. collariJT12
O. commersoniFP64 [=Scops commersoniFS01]
O. cypriusAP21
O. enganensisJT12
O. everettiAP21
O. fuliginosusJT12
O. guatemalaeE52
|--O. g. guatemalaeE52
`--O. g. vermiculatusE52
O. hartlaubi (Giebel 1872) [=Noctua hartlaubi, Athene leucopsis Hartlaub 1849 (preoc.)]M-PG70
O. icterorhynchus (Shelley 1873) [=Scops icterorhyncha]M-PG70
|--O. i. icterorhynchusM-PG70
`--O. i. holerythrus (Sharpe 1901) [=Scops holerythra]M-PG70
O. jolandaeAP21
O. madagascariensisAP21
O. magicusJT12
O. manadensisJT12
O. mantananensisJT12
‘Scops’ menadensisS66
O. mentawiAP21
O. nigrorumAP21
O. nudipesSWK87
|--O. n. nudipesSWK87
`--O. n. newtoniSWK87
O. palustrisF43
O. pamelaeAP21
‘Scops’ pennatusS89
O. podarginusJT12
O. rufescensJT12
O. sagittatusJT12
O. siaoensisJT12
O. silvicolaJT12
O. socotranusAP21
O. sulaensisAP21
O. thilohoffmanniJT12
O. umbraJT12
‘Scops’ ustaSS66
Otus senegalensis (Swainson 1837)BKB15, M-PG70 [=Scops senegalensisM-PG70, O. scops senegalensisM-PG70; incl. O. senegalensis graueri Chapin 1930M-PG70, Ephialtes hendersonii Cassin 1853M-PG70, O. senegalensis hendersoniiM-PG70, Pisorhina ugandae Neumann 1899M-PG70, O. senegalensis ugandaeM-PG70]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A72] Abdulali, H. 1972. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of the Bombay Natural History Society—11. Strigidae and Caprimulgidae. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (1): 102–129.
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[E52] Eisenmann, E. 1952. Annotated list of birds of Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (5): 1–62.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.
[FS01] Flannery, T. & P. Schouten. 2001. A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World’s Extinct Animals. Text Publishing: Melbourne.
[F43] Fraser, L. 1843. On the collection of birds brought to England by Mr. Bridges. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 108–121.
[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.
[J23] James, E. 1823. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ’20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, sec’y of war: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party vol. 1. H. C. Carey & I. Lea: Philadelphia.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.
[M-PG70] Mackworth-Praed, C. W., & C. H. B. Grant. 1970. African Handbook of Birds ser. 3 vol. 1. Birds of West Central and Western Africa. Longman: London.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX.—Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a, 7: 369–438.
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.
[SWK87] Snyder, N. F. R., J. W. Wiley & C. B. Kepler. 1987. The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural history and conservation of the Puerto Rican parrot. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology: Los Angeles.
[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.
[USDI77] United States Department of the Interior. 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants—republication of list of species. Federal Register 42: 36420–36431.