Flores Scops-Owl
Otus alfredi
A small owl with yellow eyes, a pale bill, an unmarked rufous face and ear tufts, a pale forehead, mainly rufous upperparts with prominent white spots in the wings, and a faintly-scaled pale grayish underside. Juvenile is largely pale rufous, with little barring but strong tail bands. Inhabits montane forest on Flores. Distinguished from larger Wallace’s and Moluccan Scops-Owls by rufous appearance, pale bill, lack of prominent dark facial border, and absence of bold streaking on underparts. Song is a distinctive crake-like, stuttering “da-da-da-da-da-da-da,” wavering in pitch.
Identification
The Flores scops owl is a small and compact owl. The species has short, rounded, and broad ear-tufts and a white vermiculation on the forehead. It has an orange-yellow beak, located above which are long and reddish rictal bristles, similar to mammalian whiskers. It possesses a red-brown facial outline, dark rufous feathers along the side of the neck with white bases, small white triangles on its hind-neck and white scapular spots with brown tips. It has a tiny tail that is barely visible, dense feathers on the legs, and dark orange-yellow claws.
Taxonomy
The Flores scops owl has a generic name of Otus which was first introduced by Thomas Pennant, a Welsh naturalist and traveller, in 1769. "Otus" is derived from the Greek word "otos," which means eared owl.
- Scientific name
- Otus alfredi
- Authority
- (Hartert, EJO, 1897)
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Otus
Range and habitat
The Flores scops owl is endemic to the island of Flores, Indonesia, and inhabits montane forests from 1,000-1,400m. It was thought that these owls thrive in moist semi-evergreen forests of the Flores highlands. However, the recent observations in the Sisok forest imply their habitat can vary between these moist forests as well as the dry monsoon forests that exist at lower altitudes.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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