The Negros scops owl (''Otus nigrorum''), also known as the Visayan scops owl, is an

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 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 islands of

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 ...

and

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 ...

in 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 ...

, belonging to the family of the typical owls

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 has a distinct and striking rufous or reddish brown crown, nape and face. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Philippine scops owl. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the pet trade.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of lowland and foothill forest on the islands of Negros and Panay, where it is the only scops-owl. Dark brown above and pale gray below, with a rufous face bordered with a black line and a pale gray V-shape between the eyes. Occurs together with

Luzon boobook The Luzon boobook or Luzon hawk owl (''Ninox philippensis''), also Philippine hawk owl or Philippine boobook, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it lives in forests. It is a brown and white mottle ...

, but Negros Scops-Owl has orange rather than yellow eyes and lacks the brown-streaked chest. Song is a descending series of upslurred yelps." It was formerly conspecific with the Philippine scops owl and the

Everett's scops owl Everett's scops owl (''Otus everetti'') is an owl, endemic to the Philippines, belonging to the family of the typical owls Strigidae. They are found on Bohol, Samar, Biliran, Leyte, Mindanao and Basilan. This species is part of the Philippine s ...

. It is the smallest and palest of the endemic Philippine scops owl complex. It also has a distinct rufous crown and facial disc and its upper foot is not feathered.

Ecology and behaviour

Negros scops owls

prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

at night on insects. They live alone or in monogamous pairs. They breed throughout the year, laying clutches of 1 or 2

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

. They nest in

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 ...

s in forests of the Philippine lowlands.

Habitat and conservation status

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 tropical moist lowland and

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 ...

primary and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

up to 1,000 meters above sea level. While they can tolerate

, they have the highest population densities and health in primary (old-growth) forest. The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

has assessed this bird as vulnerable with the population being estimated at 1,000 to 2,499 mature individuals. Its main threat is

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

through both legal and

Illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

, conversion into farmlands through

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

burning, and mining. Habitat loss on both Negros and Panay has been extensive. By 2007,

and

had a 3% and 6% remaining forest cover with a huge chunk of this being in higher elevation forests where this bird does not thrive. Despite the already paltry numbers, these figures are still continuing to decline due to the above-mentioned threats. There are currently no species-specific conservation plans. It occurs in a few protected areas in

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 ...

, Mount Kanlaon National Park and

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 ...

. However, as with most areas in the

, protection from hunting and illegal logging is lax. Two-thirds of all

records of this species by birdwatchers in the Liptong Woodland, a private reforestation project owned by Rene Vendiola in

Valencia, Negros Oriental Valencia, officially the Municipality of Valencia, is a municipality in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 38,733 people. The municipality was voted as "the greenest and cleanest" ...

. This area is just 2 hectares but supports multiple pairs of owls.

References

*Dickinson, E.C., R.S. Kennedy, and K.C. Parkes. 1991. The birds of the Philippines. An annotated check-list. British Ornithologists' Union Check-list number 12. British Ornithologists' Union, London. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q12265384 Otus (bird) Endemic birds of the Philippines Birds of Negros Island Birds described in 1950 Taxa named by Austin L. Rand