The Sokoke scops owl (''Otus ireneae''), also Morden's scops owl or Morden's owlet, is a highly localized species of

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 lighte ...

found in lowland forests of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. The greatest population of this species of owl is in the ''

Cynometra ''Cynometra'' (from Greek language, Greek calque of ''puki anjing'', local Malay name for ''Cynometra cauliflora, C. cauliflora'' according to Georg Eberhard Rumphius, Rumphius) is genus of tropical forest trees with a pantropical distribution. ...

Manilkara ''Manilkara'' is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae. They are widespread in tropical and semitropical locations, in Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, as well as various islands in the Pacific and in the Cari ...

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, ...

, which is less than one-third of the Sokoke Forest. It is also found in the ''

Afzelia ''Afzelia'' is a genus of plants in family (biology), family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia. The genus name of ''Afzelia'' is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an ap ...

-Cynometra'' forest. The Sokoke scops owl can grow to , and can weigh up to , and is the smallest of the scops owls. It is

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

and coloring ranges from grey to rufous.

Description

Sokoke scops owl pair in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest

Sokoke scops owl is a fairly plain scops owl with small spotted markings on the underside. They are found in a number of color morphs ranging from grey through brown to an orange-rufous. Their call consists of a repetitive "too-too-too-too-too" reminiscent of the calls of tinkerbirds. Males have a higher-pitched, louder and clearer call compared to females, which have a softer, muffled, low-pitched call. They are territorial and pairs may duet in response to intruding conspecifics. The calling intensity of spontaneously calling owls varies with the time of night and phase of the moon.

Distribution

Sokoke scops owl have a highly restricted range in coastal Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania. It was first discovered in 1965 in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve in coastal Kenya. Two other isolated populations have been subsequently discovered in the Dakatcha woodlands in Kenya and in the Manga and Kwamgumi forest reserves in the lowlands of the East

Usambara mountains The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges are approximately long and about half that wide, and they are situated in the Lushoto District ...

, Tanzania. Its global range is not thought to exceed 500 km². Other isolated populations of this species may still persist in unsurveyed patches of suitable habitat.

Habitat

Sokoke scops owl has very specific habitat requirements of undisturbed lowland forest. In the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve, it only occurs in forest dominated by ''

Brachylaena ''Brachylaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster, or composite, family, Asteraceae or Compositae. Several are endemic to Madagascar, and the others are distributed in mainland Africa, especially the southern regions.Beentje, H. J. (20 ...

'' and ''Cynometra'', despite the presence of other forest types. It is thought that holes in ''Brachylaena'' trees provide suitable nesting sites for the owls and their removal may be responsible for population declines.

Conservation

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 ...

places the Sokoke scops owl as globally

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 ...

on its Red List. Its dependence on undisturbed forest means that it is threatened by human disturbance such as logging, fires and encroachment. Suitable climatic conditions are predicted to shift southwards as the climate changes and be completely lost in the Usambaras by 2080. The isolation of suitable forest patches that are surrounded by human-modified habitats means that they risk extinction. Increasing populations of

African elephant African elephants are members of the genus ''Loxodonta'' comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (''L. africana'') and the smaller African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. ...

s in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve may also affect their populations through habitat degradation. Habitat restoration and translocation to other suitable habitat patches have been suggested as potential conservation interventions that may help prevent their extinction. Call surveys conducted in 2005 and 2008 in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve place the population size of the reserve at 800 pairs. Densities in 1997 in the East Usambaras ranged from less than 1.5 pairs/km² to 3 or 4 pairs/km², and the population is estimated to be markedly smaller than the Arabuko-Sokoke population.

Behaviour

Like other ''Otus'' owls, they are strictly

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, making their biology difficult to study. They are most active immediately after dark and before dawn and travel further from their roost sites to forage when there is less illumination from the Moon. They roost in the dense understory of ''Cynometra'' trees during the day. The mean home-range of a pair is 11 ha and there is very little overlap with neighboring pairs.

Diet

Pellet samples show that they feed almost exclusively on medium-sized insects across a wide range of orders, with the predominant prey type likely dependent on availability at the time.

Beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s (Coleoptera) and crickets (

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

) appear to be consumed the most.

References

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1270124 Sokoke scops owl Birds of East Africa Sokoke scops owl Sokoke scops owl Taxa named by Sidney Dillon Ripley