The Karthala scops owl (''Otus pauliani''), also known as the Grand Comore scops owl or Comoro scops owl, is a small scops

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

endemic to the island of

Grande Comore Grande Comore (; ) is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which i ...

in the

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...

Taxonomy

The Karthala scops owl was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Madagascar scops owl (''Otus rutilus''), but with the other Comoro Islands scops owls, it is now regarded as a separate species.

Description

The Karthala scops owl lacks ear-tufts and comes in two colour forms, a light morph and a dark morph. The light morph is dark greyish-brown on the upperparts with fine barring and pale spots along the scapulars. The underparts are reddish-buff with a dense pattern of fine barring on the flight feathers and tail. The dark morph is overall dark chocolate brown but no specimen of a dark morph individual has been taken. It measures approximately in length and the wingspan is .

Voice

Its call is a whistled "toot", which is given repeatedly with one second intervals.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to the island of Grande Comore, the Karthala scops owl is found only on

Mount Karthala Mount Karthala or Karthola ( ''Al Qirṭālah'') is an active volcano and the highest point of the Comoros at above sea level. It is the southernmost and larger of the two shield volcanoes forming Grande Comore island, the largest island in the ...

, an active

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

. Here it inhabits the

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

forest, some secondary growth and the tree-heath above the forest.

Behaviour

Nocturnal and very territorial, the Karthala scops owl will approach an imitation of its call, otherwise almost unknown. It has relatively weak talons so probably feeds on insects and other invertebrates. It is thought to nest in tree cavities.

Status and population

It has an estimated population of 2,000. It is classified as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

due to it being restricted to such a small area, which is being rapidly deforested.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q726913 Karthala scops owl Endemic birds of the Comoros Grande Comore Critically endangered fauna of Africa Karthala scops owl Taxa named by Constantine Walter Benson