Ryukyu Scops Owl

Overview

The Ryukyu scops owl (Otus elegans), also known as the elegant scops owl, is a small rufous-brown owl classified as Near Threatened. It inhabits tropical or subtropical evergreen forests across parts of East Asia and is currently becoming rare due to habitat loss.

Identification

• Small rufous-brown plumage with a brown face disk and a cinnamon facial ruff.
• Olive-grey bill and yellow eyes.

Habitat

Found in the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, Lanyu Island off south-east Taiwan, and the Batanes and Babuyan Islands off northern Luzon in the Philippines. It lives in tropical or subtropical evergreen forest, with its distribution restricted by the presence of naturally occurring tree holes with a diameter at breast height of more than 38 cm.

Diet

Its staple diet consists of invertebrates such as katydids, moths, and millipedes. It occasionally feeds on small vertebrates including geckos, lizards, and the Japanese white-eye.

Did you know?

Because their beaks are unable to make holes in trees, their nests are mainly constructed in naturally decayed cavities or holes made by other animals, though traces have occasionally been found in man-made constructions such as drainage holes or toilets' water tanks.