Mindoro Scops-Owl Otus mindorensis Scientific name definitions

18–19 cm (1 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 (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Small scops-owl (wing length 133–136 mm (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) ); overall plumage dull buffish-brown and finely marked; ear tufts of moderate length and blotchy; upperparts brown with vague fine darker streaking and vermiculations; mainly buffy below with narrow dark streaks and inconspicuous dark and white barring; tertials essentially unbarred, while tail is narrowly banded; tarsi half feathered; irides bright yellow; cere dirty flesh (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); bill dull greenish-yellow (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); claws small, weak, grey. Juvenile undescribed. No other Otus known from Mindoro (2 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), so unlikely to be confused with any other species.

Poorly known. Has been documented in montane, closed-canopy forest at c. 900–1450 m elevation (2 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); reported to roost by day in dense foliage or in tree cavity.

Presumably resident (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Probably mostly insects, but no published quantitative information (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Male’s call a soft “po-wo” or “wo-wo”, each phrase lasting c. 0·5 seconds and repeated at intervals of 8–10 seconds, sometimes for minutes at a time (2 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Type specimen, collected in Jan 1896, had well-developed eggs; other specimens with well-developed gonads in Jan and May (2 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Nest and eggs undescribed.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened, and previously, Vulnerable. CITES II. Restricted-range species: present in Mindoro EBA (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 ). Global population size estimated to be 10,000–20,000 individuals. Apparently locally common in suitable habitat; in some areas, individuals spaced at no more than c. 150 m (1 König, C., F. Weick, and J.-H. Becking (2008). Owls of the World. Second Edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Montane forest now greatly diminished in size, however, and confined to elevations above 870 m; continuing clearance operations reducing area of suitable habitat even further, and numbers almost surely are declining.