Ryūkyū scops owl | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Strigiformes |
Family: | Strigidae |
Genus: | Otus |
Species: | O. elegans |
Binomial name | |
Otus elegans (Cassin, 1852) |
The Ryūkyū scops-owl or elegant scops-owl (Otus elegans) is a small rufous-brown owl with a brown face disk and a cinnamon facial ruff. The bill is olive-grey and it has yellow eyes.
It is found on the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, on Lanyu Island off south-east Taiwan, and on the Batanes and Babuyan Islands off northern Luzon, Philippines, in tropical or subtropical evergreen forest. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.