The Luzon boobook or Luzon hawk owl (''Ninox philippensis''), also Philippine hawk owl or Philippine boobook, is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family (biology), family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls and bay owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

where it lives in forests. It is a brown and white mottled bird and males and females look much alike.

Description

The Luzon boobook is one of the smallest of the owls in the

Philippine hawk-owl The Philippine hawk-owl is a species complex of owls in the genus ''Ninox''. They are all endemic to the Philippines. Systematics and taxonomy There are seven known species: * Luzon boobook (''Ninox philippensis'') ** '' Ninox philippensis cen ...

complex. It has white eyebrow-like streaks above the eyes and the

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

and a white moustache forming an x-shape on the head. It does not have tufts of feathers on its head resembling ears. The upper parts of all subspecies are brown, and the wings are mottled with oval-shaped white spots. The tail is dark brown with narrow white stripes. The sides of the head are brown, the chin is a whitish colour, while the rest of the underparts are pale white with wide brown streaks which are more prominent on the breast. The underside of the tail is white. The chequered subspecies have these reticulated patterns on the underparts, on the head, the upper parts of the back and the wings. The feet are partially covered with feathers and are pale yellow. The beak is olive.

Taxonomy

There are three recognised

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: * ''Ninox philippensis philippensis'' – Found on

Biliran Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran (Waray language, Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region (Region VIII). Biliran is one of ...

, Buad,

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

, Polillo and

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

* ''Ninox philippensis centralis'' – Found on

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...

Carabao Carabaos () are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes ('' Bubalus bubalis kerabau'') from the Philippines.FAO 2013''Philippine Carabao/Philippines''In: Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Food and Agriculture ...

Guimaras Guimaras (), officially the Province of Guimaras (; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. The capital is Jordan, while the largest local government unit is the municipality of Buenavista. The provin ...

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

Semirara Semirara is an island in the Philippines located in the Caluya archipelago which is situated south of Mindoro Island. It is under the jurisdiction of the town of Caluya in the province of Antique. It is a major site of coal mining in the Philipp ...

and

Siquijor Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor (; ), is a Philippines, Philippine Provinces of the Philippines, island province (List of islands of the Philippines, the third smallest in the country, in terms of population and land area) ...

; duller brown and less spots on underparts * ''Ninox philippensis ticaoensis'' – Found on Ticao; slightly smaller than nominate and with darker plumage

Ecology and behaviour

It feeds on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, frogs, small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s and even birds. The breeding season for this species starts around February utilizing hollows in trees as nesting sites. Fledglings reported in March and May

Habitat and conservation Status

The Luzon boobook can be found in forest areas up to an altitude of above sea level, although they mostly reside in areas below . Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s and tropical moist

montane forest 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 ...

s. This species is listed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

as least concern as it is still locally common and tolerant of habitat disturbance. However, its population is declining due to complete habitat clearance across its range. It is found in numerous protected areas including

Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park The Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park is the largest protected area of the Philippines covering the northern range of the Sierra Madre mountains of eastern Luzon. The park is located in the eastern part of the province of Isabela in Cagayan ...

Bataan National Park Bataan National Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the mountainous interior of Bataan province in the Central Luzon Region. Activities in the park include nature viewing, bird watching, and trekking to its several peaks and w ...

Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park The Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park is located on the island of Panay, in the provinces of Aklan and Antique of the Philippines which was proclaimed a natural park by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on 18 April 2002 (Presidential Proclam ...

Northern Negros Natural Park The Northern Negros Natural Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the northern mountainous forest region of the island of Negros in the Visayas. It is spread over five municipalities and six cities in the province of Negros Occide ...

Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape The Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape is a protected landscape area of forested limestone hills, grasslands and natural springs in the island province of Bohol in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. It is the largest remaining tract of ...

and

Samar Island Natural Park The Samar Island Natural Park, in Samar, is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines. It is the country's largest terrestrial protected area, with an area of . The buffer is spread north to south over the island's three ...

but actual protection from deforestation is still lax.

Description

Taxonomy

Ecology and behaviour

Habitat and conservation Status

References

Further reading