Otus siaoensis (Schlegel)

Siau Scops Owl (Otus siaoensis)

The Siau Scops Owl is a highly threatened, very likely already extinct owl species that was endemic to the island of Siau north of Sulawesi, Indonesia; it is known only from the type specimen that had been collected in 1866.

The species reached a size of 17 cm.

The Siau Scops Owl is closely related to the Sulawesi Scops Owl (Otus manadensis (Quoy & Gaimard)) (see photo below) and was for some time considered a subspecies of it but is now regarded as a distinct species.

*********************

Sulawesi Scops Owl (Otus manadensis)

Photo: A. S. Kono

(under creative commons license (3.0))
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

*********************

edited: 02.05.2022