Multi-character taxonomic review, systematics, and biogeography of the Blackcapped / Tawny-bellied Screech Owl (Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii) complex (Aves: Strigidae) Author Dantas, Sidnei M. 0000-0002-2281-0819 Zoology Graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Pará / Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém-PA, Brazil. smdantas @ yahoo. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 2281 - 0819 & Department of Zoology, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém-PA, Brazil. smdantas@yahoo.com Author Weckstein, Jason D. 0000-0003-3850-1196 Department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, USA 19096. tac 327 @ drexel. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 3850 - 1196 & Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, USA 19096. jason. d. weckstein @ drexel. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7941 - 5724 tac327@drexel.edu Author Bates, John 0000-0002-5809-5941 Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL, USA 60605. jbates @ fieldmuseum. org; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 5809 - 5941 jbates@fieldmuseum.org Author Oliveira, Joiciane N. Department of Zoology, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém-PA, Brazil. & Graduate Program in Environmental Biology, Universidade Federal do Pará, Bragança-PA, Brazil. Author Catanach, Therese A. 0000-0001-7941-5724 Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, USA 19096. jason. d. weckstein @ drexel. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7941 - 5724 jason.d.weckstein@drexel.edu Author Aleixo, Alexandre Department of Zoology, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém-PA, Brazil. & Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. text Zootaxa 2021 2021-03-26 4949 3 401 444 journal article 7573 10.11646/zootaxa.4949.3.1 1450e926-933d-4ae8-bc64-a8df7b295697 1175-5326 4640330 2CAB47C9-2109-45DA-8F02-50D74D593DF2 Megascops ater ( Hekstra, 1982 ) Belém Screech-Owl corujinha-de-belém (Portuguese) Otus atricapillus ater Hekstra, 1982 : Browning (1989) ; holotype at USNM examined . Megascops watsonii watsonii (Cassin, 1848) : Dickinson & Remsen (2013) . This taxon name ( type locality Belém, Pará, Brazil ) corresponds to Clade D identified herein, being restricted to the Belém AOE, east from the Tocantins River to Maranhão , Brazil . Statistical support for reciprocal monophyly and significant degree of coalescence of M. ater with respect to the other species in the complex was high in all analyses. Average uncorrected pairwise p-distances between M. ater and the other sampled lineages ranges from 2.1% ( M. stangiae ) to 6.7% ( M. watsonii ). Morphologically highly variable, with brown and dark morphs predominant. Dark morphs in M . ater similar to M. watsonii dark morphs, but with narrower ventral stripes. Vocally not safely distinguishable from any of the other species in the complex recognized herein. The proposed common name is a reference to the Area of Endemism in which this species is endemic. The Belém AOE is the most deforested sector of the entire Amazon ( Silva et al. 2005 ), with deforestation still ongoing. Therefore, the conservation status of M. ater must be urgently evaluated, as it could already be endangered.