The Palawan scops owl (Otus fuliginosus) is an owl endemic to the Philippines only being found on the island of Palawan. It is found on tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description and taxonomy
EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of lowland forest. Dark brown above with a white bar behind the shoulder, and paler and warmer brown below with black marks. Note the wide, shallow V-shape stretching from between the eyes out to the ends of the prominent ear tufts, and the dark facial shield incompletely bordered with white below. Eyes are deep orange. Similar to Mantanani Scops-Owl, which only occurs on small offshore islands off Palawan, but differs in eye color. Voice is a low rasping croak, 'gruk grrrrrrrrr'."[3]
Not much is known about this owl but they are presumed to have similar habits to other closely related scops owls. Their diet is presumed to be insects, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
They are presumed to live alone or in monogamous pairs and nests in tree hollows. Birds in breeding condition with enlarged gonads collected in April. Type specimen was a juvenile taken in July. [4]
Habitat and conservation status
Its habitat is in tropical moist lowland primary and secondary forest and even mixed cultivated areas – as long as there are still trees.[5]
IUCN has assessed this bird as near threatened with the population being estimated at 10,000 to 19,999 mature individuals remaining. This species' main threat is habitat loss with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of legal and illegal logging, mining and conversion into farmlands through slash-and-burn or other methods.
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