Oriental Bay-owl (Phodilus badius) - HBW 5, p. 75

Taxonomy: Strix badia Horsfield, 1821, Java.
Relationships uncertain. Although has occasionally been considered to include P. prigoginei as a race, latter seems to exhibit much too marked differences. Taxonomic status of SE Asian forms requires clarification: birds of Thailand sometimes assigned to saturatus and sometimes to nominate badius, with those of Myanmar considered intermediate; present arrangement, with populations from N & C Myanmar E to Vietnam and China placed with Indian birds in saturatus, and those of S Myanmar and peninsular Thailand in nominate race, perhaps tentative, and extent of possible intergradation between the two in C? & S Myanmar and SW Thailand undetermined. Races ripleyi and arixuthus might be untenable, as based on unique types. Also, single record from E Philippines (Samar) described as separate race, riverae; included in nominate race in recent works, though size and colour characters in type description suggest closer affinities to saturatus, or possibly a valid race, but specimen destroyed in 1945 and no further conclusions possible. Six subspecies tentatively recognized.