Andaman Boobook Ninox affinis Scientific name definitions

21–28 cm (1 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close , 2 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); no data on body mass. Smallish boobook with grey head and face , poorly defined facial disc, white rictal bristles surrounding yellowish-horn bill. Upperparts plain dark brown with faint rufous tint; tail with narrow dark bands and prominent brown terminal band (1 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ); underparts whitish with bright rufous streaks , denser on upper breast; eyes  and feet yellow; cere dull greenish. Told from sympatric N. obscura by smaller size (wing length 167–170 mm, tail length 102–113 mm (2 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) ), streaked underparts and bill color. Sexes similar in plumage, female slightly larger; juvenile less distinctly streaked below.

Andaman Is (North Andaman S to Little Andaman).

Lowland primary and secondary forest.

Poorly known. Diet probably dominated by insects; observed hawking moths and beetles in the air (2 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Perched birds said to be shyer than sympatric N. obscura.

Song a series of guttural , downslurred “crauwu”  notes repeated at intervals of c. one to several seconds (1 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close , 2 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

No published information on nesting biology.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Restricted-range species present in the Andaman Islands EBA. Although habitats on the Andaman Is are relatively intact compared with most other archipelagos in the Indian Ocean, the human population is growing, and native forests are being lost and degraded from timber harvesting, farming and grazing (3 Stattersfield, A. J., M. J. Crosby, A. J. Long, and D. C. Wege (1998). Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ). Thought to be fairly common in primary and second-growth forests (1 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Population size has not been directly estimated, but based on population density data of congeners, and assuming that only a proportion of its range is occupied, global population may fall in the range of 2500–10,000 mature individuals BirdLife International (2018) Species factsheet: Ninox affinis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 09/01/2018. . Population suspected of undergoing a "slow to moderate decline" because of ongoing habitat loss and degradation and increasing numbers of people.