The Mantanani scops owl (''Otus mantananensis''), is a small

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

scops-owl Scops owls are typical owls in family Strigidae belonging to the genus ''Otus'' and are restricted to the Old World. ''Otus'' is the largest genus of owls with 59 species. Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Otus'' found on small islands between

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and 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 ...

. It is listed by the

IUCN 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 status ...

as "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

" because its range is limited with its population being fragmented on several different islands, and its forest habitat is being degraded by ongoing logging and clearance.

Description and Taxonomy

This owl is about 18 cm long, with a wing length of about 15.5 cm. It has a buff facial disk with a narrow, dark border. It has dark brown upperparts with pale markings on the scapulars, and pale underparts with dark streaks and barring. It has yellow irides, grey feet and bill, and feathered tarsi. This owl hunts at the forest edge or in clearings, feeding mainly 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. It is thought to breed from March to May with its eggs being laid in a

tree hollow A tree hollow or tree hole is a semi-enclosed cavity which has naturally formed in the trunk or branch of a tree. They are found mainly in old trees, whether living or not. Hollows form in many species of trees. They are a prominent feature of n ...

. The voice has been described as a simple ''waa'' and a goose-like honk, with a descending series of short ''wa''s during territorial disputes. The female's voice is lower and harsher than that of the male.

Subspecies

Four

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 ...

are recognized: * ''O. m. romblonis-'' Found in

Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...

Tablas Island Tablas is the largest of the islands that comprise the province of Romblon in the Philippines. The name of the island is of Spanish origin. Before the colonization of the Philippines, Tablas was known as the Island of ''Osigan''. At the time of ...

Semirara Island 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 Philippi ...

Sibuyan Island Sibuyan is a crescent-shaped island, the second largest in an archipelago comprising Romblon Province, Philippines. Located in the namesake Sibuyan Sea, it has an area of and has a total population of 62,815, as of the 2020 census. The island ...

, Tres Reyes and Banton. * ''O. m. cuyensis -'' Found in Dicabaito, Linapacan and surrounding islands in the southern

Calamian Islands The Calamian Islands or the Calamianes is a group of islands in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It includes: * Busuanga Island * Coron Island * Culion Island * Calauit Island * Malcapuya Island * Banana Island * Pass Island * Calumbuyan ...

* ''O. m. sibutuensis'' - Found in the

Sibutu Islands The Sibutu Islands are an archipelago in the southern Philippines. The islands are geographically and ethnologically part of Borneo. The archipelago consists of the following inhabited islands; Sibutu, Tumindao, Sitangkai, Omapui, Sipankot, and Bul ...

and Tumindao * ''O. m. mantanensis -'' Found in the surrounding islands of southern

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Habitat and Conservation Status

The Mantanani scops owl is endemic to small islands between the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

in northern Borneo, such as the Mantanani group after which the species gets its common name, and the Philippines island of

, including Calamien, Rasa and Ursula, as well as islands in the

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

and the central Philippines. It is fairly common in

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

groves and other wooded habitats, such as stands of ''

Casuarina equisetifolia ''Casuarina equisetifolia'', commonly known as coastal she-oak, horsetail she-oak, ironwood, beach sheoak, beach casuarina, whistling tree or Australian pine is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is native to Australia, ...

'', though the total range size is small and estimated to be less than .BirdLife Factsheet. The Mantanani scops owl is considered to be

because it is confined to increasingly disturbed and degraded habitats within a small range. The BirdLife population estimate for the species over its entire range is 6,000 to 15,000 individuals and decreasing. Estimates for the population on Mantanani Island are for at least 100 birds.Smythies & Davison (1999).

References

External links

Arkive: photo of Mantanani Scops-owl by Tim Laman

Sources

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1270245 Otus (bird) Birds of East Malaysia Birds of the Philippines Birds described in 1892 Taxa named by Richard Bowdler Sharpe