Red Owl

The red owl is an owl in the barn owl family Tytonidae. It is also known as the Madagascar red owl, Madagascar grass-owl, Soumagne's owl or lesser grass-owl. It is a rare resident of Madagascar that was virtually unknown from its discovery in 1876 to its rediscovery by researchers from the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1993. It is currently listed as vulnerable because of habitat loss, but recent studies have determined it may have a wider range than first believed, though further research in distribution and ecology is required. It has possibly been overlooked because of its close resemblance to the closely related barn owl.