Brown Boobook
Ninox scutulata
Brown hawk-like owl with large, unsettling yellow eyes. Note solid brown back, patchily brown-spotted white breast, and pale triangle above the bill. Adaptable, found in a wide range of forested habitats from primary rainforest to orchards and gardens. Most active at night and dusk; often hunts from an exposed perch. Gives a series of rising hoots: “woo-wuh! woo-wuh! woo-wuh!”
Identification
The brown boobook is a medium-sized owl with a length of 32 cm (13 in). It has a hawk-like shape due to its long tail and lack of a distinct facial disk. The upperparts are dark brown, with a barred tail. The underparts are whitish with reddish-brown streaking, although the subspecies found in the Andaman Islands has dark brown underparts. The eyes are large and yellow. Sexes are similar.<p>This species is very nocturnal but it can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is roosting in a tree. It feeds mainly on large insects, frogs, lizards, small birds, and mice. The call is a repeated low soft, musical oo-uk ...ooo-uk... which may be heard at dusk and dawn. This owl is quite common in towns and cities like Colombo, Sri Lanka, as well as suburban areas close to buildings.
Taxonomy
The brown boobook was formally described in 1822 by Stamford Raffles from a specimen collected in Sumatra under the binomial name Strix scutulata. The specific epithet is from Latin scutulatus meaning "diamond-shaped". The brown boobook is now placed with the other boobooks in the genus Ninox that was introduced by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1837.<p>Nine subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Ninox scutulata
- Authority
- (Raffles, 1822)
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Ninox
Range and habitat
The brown boobook is a resident breeder in most of tropical south Asia from the Middle East to south China. Its habitat is well-wooded country and forest. It lays three to five eggs in a tree hole.<p>There are two records of the brown boobook in the western hemisphere: an individual photographed on St. Paul Island, Alaska, on August 27, 2007, and a dead owl found on Kiska Island in 2008.
- Breeding range
- OR, PAL : n India to s China and Borneo
- Non-breeding range
- Sulawesi and Lesser Sundas
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Small compact brown pheasant with bright red facial skin and iridescent sapphire spots all over the body, with longer green spots on the tail. Inhabits forests with dense cover from the lowlands up into the foothills and lower montane areas. Generally shy and reclusive and very difficult to see well.
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