Sulawesi Scops-Owl

The Sulawesi scops-owl is a small brown owl with yellow eyes and feathered ear tufts. When the tufts lie flat, the head appears distinctly square. Darker and paler markings are scattered across an otherwise brown body, while juveniles show heavy barring on the crown and back. It is the only scops-owl throughout its Sulawesi range, making geography an important identification aid. Its song is a persistent single drawn-out note, sometimes ending with an upward inflection (eBird/Merlin account).

This endemic lives in the understorey of forest and forest edge from the lowlands into lower mountains. The Banggai scops-owl was formerly included within Otus manadensis but was recognised as a separate species by the International Ornithologists’ Union in 2021, so older records and range summaries require care. The sources opened did not provide a verified prey list, body measurements, nest site, clutch or incubation period, and those facts are therefore omitted (Wikipedia taxonomic account; eBird/Merlin identification account).