Sula Scops Owl - BirdForum Opus

Otus sulaensis

Identification

20 cm

• Very small, rounded ear tufts
• Greyish brown facial disk
• Upperside dark brown, underside paler with rufous wash
  • Blackish streaks overall and pale barring
• Eyes yellow, bill black and horn
• Legs mostly unfeathered

Distribution

Sula Islands

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Until recently, Sula Scops Owl was considered a subspecies of one of these two species: Sulawesi Scops Owl - Otus manadensis or Moluccan Scops Owl - Otus magicus

Habitat

Forest, both primary and secondary, from sea level to relatively high elevation

Behaviour

Probably feeding on invertebrates and some small vertebrates.

Vocalisation

A long song of short, frequent trills.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v 10.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
3. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and J. S. Marks (2020). Sula Scops-Owl (Otus sulaensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sulsco3.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Sula Scops Owl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sula_Scops_Owl

External Links

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