Sulawesi Scops-Owl Otus manadensis Scientific name definitions

A small scops-owl with conspicuous ear tufts and bright-yellow eyes, the Sulawesi Scops-Owl (Otus manadensis) is a relatively common species in the Sulawesi bioregion, occurring on the main island of Sulawesi along with its satellites, including Peleng (in the Banggai Islands) and the Tukangbesi Islands. Despite looking rather like other Wallacean scops-owl species, the Sulawesi Scops-Owl is readily distinguished from these congeners by its distinctive vocalizations, although closer study of these vocalizations in recent years has suggested that the taxonomic arrangement adopted herein may not be the most suitable, with birds on Peleng (off eastern Sulawesi) perhaps meriting treatment as their own species, i.e., the Banggai Scops-Owl (Otus mendeni), and those on Kaledupa (in the Tukangbesi Islands, off southeast Sulawesi) being probably better aligned with the Moluccan Scops-Owl (Otus magicus), thereby reviving a previous treatment. Despite being quite common, most aspects of this species’ natural history remain unknown, with no data on, for example, its breeding biology or diet.