Sulawesi Scops-Owl
Otus manadensis
A small brown owl with yellow eyes and feathered ear tufts. Note square head shape when tufts not raised. Body all brown with extensive scattered darker and paler markings. Juvenile heavily barred on back and crown. Inhabits understory of forest and forest edge from lowlands to lower mountains. Endemic to Sulawesi. Distinctive: the only scops-owl in range. Song a persistent single note “woooo” repeated often, sometimes with an upward inflection at the end: “wooooek.”
Identification
The Sulawesi scops owl (Otus manadensis) is an owl found on the Sulawesi island of Indonesia. The Banggai scops owl (Otus mendeni) was formerly considered conspecific, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.
Taxonomy
Genus: Otus; Family: Strigidae; Order: Strigiformes.
- Scientific name
- Otus manadensis
- Authority
- (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Otus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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