It’s a little confusing. There seems to be two words for owl: lechuza and búho as you can see in the compound words below. Can anyone explain the use of one over the other?
barn owl (Zoology) nf lechuza común (Zoología)
barred owl (Zoology) nm cárabo norteamericano (Zoología)
eagle owl (Zoology) nm búho real (Zoología)
great gray owl (ornithology; UK = great grey owl) (US) nm cárabo lapón (ornitología)
great horned owl (Ornithology) nm búho virginiano (ornitología)
great horned owl (Ornithology) nm búho cornudo
hawk owl (Zoology) n lechuza gavilana
horned owl (Zoology) n búho virginiano
little owl nm pequeño búho
little owl nm buhíto
long-eared owl (Zoology) nf búho chico
night owl adj trasnochador
night owl n ave nocturna
screech owl nf lechuza blanca
tawny owl nm cárabo (Lechuza Familia Strigidae)
tawny owl nm autillo
In Spain, you’d say “le-CHOO-tha co-MOON”. In Latin America, I believe the “z” would be pronounced more as an “s” sound.
The “le” and “co” have short vowels, similar(ish) to “let” and “cop” respectively. Also the “OO” sound is not a long diphthongised vowel as in English, just an accented U.
In the US, the “o” in cop is pronounced like an “ah”. I think the “o” in Spanish is more like a long “o” (maybe “hard” is a better word than “long”) in American English.
Not being a zoologist or knowledgeable on birds, lechuza refers to the Tytonidae or barn-owls whereas the búho refers to the typical owls. But, in most everyday speech, most speakers use both words interchangeably.
As for the lechuza vs buho. Buho has the pointy ears, lechuzas have the round faces, or at least that’s what your average grade-schooler will draw when asked. If you want more science, listen to what **ChicanoRojo ** says or wait for Colibri
