Japanese Scops Owl - BirdForum Opus

This article is incomplete. This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it.

Otus semitorques

Distribution

Japan, northeast China and southeast Siberia.

Taxonomy

Currently three subspecies are recognized:

• O. s. ussuriensis on Sakhalin Island, Ussuriland and northeast China
• O. s. semitorques on south Kuril Islands and Hokkaido south to Yakushima Island
• O. s. pryeri on Hachijo Island (south Izu Islands) and south Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa to Iriomote)

ussuriensis was formerly included in Collared Scops Owl. The exact relationship between Indian Scops Owl, Japanese Scops Owl and Collared Scops Owl is still poorly understood and needs more research.

Behaviour

It nests in tree holes.

The call of the male is a low whoop.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Japanese Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Japanese_Scops_Owl

External Links

Search for photos of Japanese Scops Owl in the gallery