317 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 P.L. Enríquez (ed.), Neotropical Owls, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57108-9_9 Chapter 9 The Owls of Colombia Sergio Chaparro-Herrera, Sergio Córdoba-Córdoba, Juan Pablo López-Ordoñez, Juan Sebastián Restrepo-Cardona, and Oswaldo Cortes-Herrera Abstract We compiled existing information on the 28 owl species found in Colombia and evaluated information gaps. We found 23 species in the Andes and inter-Andean valleys, 15 in the Caribbean, 10 in the Pacific, 10 in the Orinoco region, 10 in the Amazon, and 4 in the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain system, includ- ing one undescribed species. With regard to conservation status, and following the BirdLife International, one species (Megascops colombianus) is considered as Near Threatened (NT) and another (Glaucidium nubicola) as Vulnerable (VU), while the remaining owl species are considered as Least Concern (LC). There are no species- specific management or conservation plans for any owl in Colombia, but most species are present in areas with some degree of governmental or private protection. According to our analysis, knowledge of the Strigiformes in the country is very limited, which posits the necessity of developing research and understanding about such basic aspects as geographical variability, population status, reproductive ecology, and behavior, among others. Indeed, without this information, it will be very difficult to discern the current status, population trends, or ecological requirements of owls in Colombia in particular and in the Neotropical region in general. Keywords Strigidae • Diversity • Conservation • Status of knowledge S. Chaparro-Herrera (*) Asociación Bogotana de Ornitología (ABO), Bogotá, Colombia Grupo de Ecología y Evolución de Vertebrados, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia e-mail: sergioupn@gmail.com S. Córdoba-Córdoba Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA e-mail: sergcordoba@yahoo.com J.P. López-Ordoñez • O. Cortes-Herrera Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia e-mail: juanpablolopezo@gmail.com J.S. Restrepo-Cardona Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia Fundación Rapaces de Colombia, Villamaría, Colombia e-mail: restrepojuan@javeriana.edu.co