The Sulu boobook or Sulu hawk-owl (''Ninox reyi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. 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 elsew ...

to the Sulu Archipelago in 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 previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but was reclassified in 2012, as voice and other evidence suggested it was a distinct species. It is found in tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by

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 ...

Description

EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of forest on the Sulu Islands. Uniformly barred, with brown upperparts and head, orange-brown underparts, white speckling on the wing, a broken pale bar behind the shoulder, a pale belly, long whiskers around the face, and yellow eyes. Note the white throat patch. Probably the only owl in its range except for

Mantanani scops owl The Mantanani scops owl (''Otus mantananensis''), is a small owl in the scops-owl genus ''Otus'' found on small islands between Borneo and the Philippines. It is listed by the IUCN as "near threatened" because its range is limited with its pop ...

, but Sulu boobook is rufous rather than gray and lacks the black line around the face. Voice includes strange clucking notes starting with a rapid series ending in three slower notes: 'kukukukukuku klok-klok-klok'." Among the species complex, this owl is unique with its call of a series of clucks rather than the typical screeching of the other Philippine hawk-owls in the species complex. It is distinguished by the heavy barring on its head and belly, white throat-patch and facial disk. It is medium-sized at 20 cm tall, along with the Mindoro boobook within Philippine hawk-owl species complex. This is in between the larger

Camiguin boobook 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 ...

, Romblon boobook and

Cebu boobook The Cebu boobook or Cebu hawk-owl (''Ninox rumseyi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but was reclassified in 2012, as voice and ot ...

at 25 cm and the 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 ...

and Mindanao boobook, which are 15 to 18 cm tall.

Habitat and conservation status

Its habitat is in tropical moist lowland

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s up to 700 meters above sea level. It is also occasionally seen on forest edge, clearings and plantations. On Tawi-Tawi, the species is also found in mature mangroves and large trees in the vicinity of villages 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 1,000 to 2,499 mature individuals. This species' main threat is

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 corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

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 via ...

, conversion into farmlands or

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

plantations and urbanization. Due to the rapid loss of habitat in the Sulu Archipelago, many of the birds endemic to the region like the

Sulu hornbill The Sulu hornbill (''Anthracoceros montani''), or Montano's hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is endemic to the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines, with the remaining populations in Tawi-Tawi with it believed to ...

Tawitawi brown dove The Tawitawi brown dove (''Phapitreron cinereiceps'') is a threatened species of bird in the family Columbidae noted for its orange-peach breast. It is endemic to forests in the Sulu Archipelago (islands of Tawi-Tawi and Sanga-Sanga) in the Phi ...

blue-winged racket-tail The blue-winged racket-tail or Sulu racquet-tail (''Prioniturus verticalis'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to Tawi-Tawi island in the Philippines and is one of the most endangered parrots in the world. It is t ...

and the

Sulu pygmy woodpecker The Sulu pygmy woodpecker (''Yungipicus ramsayi''), also known as the Sulu woodpecker, is a species of bird in the family Picidae. Formerly lumped with the Philippine pygmy woodpecker (''Y. maculatus''), it seems to form a superspecies with thi ...

are threatened with extinction. 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=Q180693 Sulu boobook Endemic birds of the Philippines Fauna of Sulu Fauna of Tawi-Tawi Fauna of Basilan Sulu Archipelago Sulu boobook