Alternative name: South Philippines Scops Owl
- Otus mantananensis
Identification
18 - 20cm. Has a brownish and a rufous morph.
- Pale buffish facial disk with distinctive thin dark border
- Narrow whtitish eyebrows
- Dark spotted crown and short ear-tufts
- Black triangular spots on hindneck
- Dark brown upperparts, mottled with black and with complex shaft streaks
- Whitish outer webs of scapulars
- Barred pale flight-feathers and tail
- Paler underparts, even sometimes whitish, peppered with black streaks and broken cross-lines, variable rufous tinge on breast
- Yellow eyes
- Grey feet and bill, almost fully feathered tarsus
- romblonis with rufous tinge, heavily marked below, tertials and uppertail nearly unbarred
- sibutuensis dull brown with irregular markings and reduced pale colour on scapulars
- cuyensis is larger with conspicuous black streaking
Sexes similar. Juvenile of sibutuensis more whitish, heavily dark brown barred, plainer brown crown and breast and more prominent barring on tail and tertials
Distribution
Found on the Philippines and on Mantanani Island (Malaysia).
A restricted-range species. Common on Mantanani Island, no data from rest of range.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies recognized:
- O. m. romblonis in the Philippines (Romblon, Tablas, Sibuyan, Banton and Semirara)
- O. m. cuyensis in southwestern Philippines (Cuyo, Dicabaito and Linapacan)
- O. m. mantananensis on Mantanani Island (off Borneo), Rasa and Ursula Islands (off Palawan)
- O. m. sibutuensis on southwest Sulu Islands (Sibutu and Tumindao)
Forms probably a superspecies with Moluccan Scops Owl. Has also been treated conspecific with Oriental Scops Owl and European Scops Owl.
Habitat
Found in forest, woodland, casuarina trees and coconut groves.
Occurs in lowlands and foothills.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds mostly on insects.
Hunts in clearings, at edges of wood and among secondary growth.
Breeding
Egg laying probably March to May. The nest is placed in a tree cavity. No other information.
Movements
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1999. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334252
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Mantanani Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mantanani_Scops_Owl
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
