The Cebu boobook or Cebu hawk-owl (''Ninox rumseyi'') is a species of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

in the family

Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owl ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the

Philippine hawk-owl The Philippine hawk-owl is a species complex of owls in the family Strigidae. They are all endemic to the Philippines. Description The Philippine hawk-owls are earless. The males and females look much alike. They differ in size and pattern on th ...

, but was reclassified in 2012, as voice and other data suggested placement in a distinct species.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized owl of wooded areas on the island of Cebu. Head and upperparts dark brown and indistinctly barred. Underparts orange-brown. Shows some white speckling in the wing, a pale bar behind the shoulder, bright yellow eyes, and white eyebrows forming an arching V-shape. Note the large white throat patch. Unmistakable. No other owls occur in its range. Song is a distinctive “wip! Doo-wip! Doh” with the middle notes falling then rising, and the final note falling. Also gives single 'wip' notes and rasps." The Cebu boobook is an earless species. Males and females are similar in appearance. It nests in natural cavities of older, larger trees. Along with the

Camiguin hawk-owl The Camiguin boobook or Camiguin hawk-owl (''Ninox leventisi'') is an owl species resident to the Camiguin island in the Philippines. It is the only owl in the country with greenish-yellow or grayish eyes. It was previously known as a subspecies ...

and Romblon boobook, it is the largest in the

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

reaching 25 cm tall versus the much smaller

Luzon boobook The Luzon boobook or Luzon hawk-owl (''Ninox philippensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it lives in forests. It is a brown and white mottled bird and males and females look much alike. Des ...

Mindanao boobook The Mindanao boobook or Mindanao hawk-owl (''Ninox spilocephala'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines on the island of Mindanao. It was previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but w ...

Mindoro boobook The Mindoro boobook or Mindoro hawk-owl (''Ninox mindorensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines. Description EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of lowland and foothill forest and woodla ...

and

Sulu boobook The Sulu boobook or Sulu hawk-owl (''Ninox reyi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. It was previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but was reclassified in ...

, which range in size from 15 to 20 cm tall.

Habitat and conservation status

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

and secondary

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s up to an altitude of 700 metres above sea level. It is also seen in clearings and plantations as long as there is nearby forest The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

classifies this bird as vulnerable with population estimates of 250 to 999 mature individuals with the belief that its population is on the lower estimate of that range. This species' main threat is

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of legal and

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corruption, corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, o ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and conversion into farmlands through

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

and urbanization.

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

underwent severe deforestation in the 1890s and now just 0.03% or 15 km² forest cover remains. The forests of Cebu continue to undergo hunting pressure and deforestation — further reducing what little there is remaining. This has led to many other species sharing its range to also be endangered. It also shares a habitat with the

Cebu flowerpecker The Cebu flowerpecker (''Dicaeum quadricolor'') is a small passerine bird. It is endemic to Cebu Island in the Philippines. Feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century, it was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest ...

which is one of the most endangered birds in the world and other endangered species such as the black shama and streak-breasted bulbul. This has led to many extinctions of species such as Cebu warty pig and possibly the Cebu amethyst brown dove and subspecies extinctions of

Philippine oriole The Philippine oriole (''Oriolus steerii'') or grey-throated oriole is a species of bird in the family Oriolidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The species is fairly comm ...

blackish cuckooshrike The blackish cuckooshrike (''Edolisoma coerulescens'') or the blackish cicadabird or Luzon graybird, is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Some taxonomists place this species in the genus Analisoma ...

, bar-bellied cuckooshrike,

Philippine hanging parrot The Philippine hanging parrot (''Loriculus philippensis''), also commonly known as the colasisiKennedy, R.S., Gonzales P.C., Dickinson E.C., Miranda, Jr, H.C., Fisher T.H. (2000) ''A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines'', Oxford University Pres ...

and more. The Cebu boobook occurs in the Alcoy, Argao, Dalaguete, Tabunan and Boljoon protected forests, but like all places in the Philippines protection is lax. There is no species-specific conservation program at present.

References

* Kennedy, R.S., Gonzales P.C., Dickinson E.C., Miranda Jr, H.C., Fisher T.H. (2000) ''A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1830400 Cebu boobook Birds of Cebu Cebu hawk-owl Cebu boobook Cebu boobook Cebu boobook Cebu boobook Cebu boobook Cebu boobook Cebu boobook