Typical Owls (Strigidae)
Oriental Scops-owl (Otus sunia) - HBW 5, p. 164
French: Petit-duc d’Orient
German: Orient-Zwergohreule
Spanish: Autillo Oriental
Other common names: Asian/Indian(!)/Little/Eastern Scops-owl, East Asian Screech-owl
Taxonomy: Scops sunia Hodgson, 1836, Nepal.
Probably forms superspecies with O. brucei, O. senegalensis, O. scops and O. flammeolus. Sometimes treated as conspecific with O. scops, and has been considered conspecific both with O. senegalensis and with O. brucei, or to include O. mirus, O. mindorensis, O. mantananensis, O. elegans, O. umbra and O. enganensis as races; all now shown to be specifically distinct on basis mainly of vocalizations. Proposed races nicobaricus and distans (Thailand) synonymous with modestus, although .. View all taxonomy...
Probably forms superspecies with O. brucei, O. senegalensis, O. scops and O. flammeolus. Sometimes treated as conspecific with O. scops, and has been considered conspecific both with O. senegalensis and with O. brucei, or to include O. mirus, O. mindorensis, O. mantananensis, O. elegans, O. umbra and O. enganensis as races; all now shown to be specifically distinct on basis mainly of vocalizations. Proposed races nicobaricus and distans (Thailand) synonymous with modestus, although nicobaricus may prove to be a valid taxon; according to some, even modestus itself is possibly inseparable from malayanus. Original specimen of O. alius initially assigned to race nicobaricus (= modestus) of present species. Seven subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- sunia (Hodgson, 1836) - N Pakistan E to Bangladesh, and N India.
- rufipennis (Sharpe, 1875) - S India.
- leggei Ticehurst, 1923 - Sri Lanka.
- sunia (Hodgson, 1836) - N Pakistan E to Bangladesh, and N India.
- rufipennis (Sharpe, 1875) - S India.
- leggei Ticehurst, 1923 - Sri Lanka.
- modestus (Walden, 1874) - Assam (S to Brahmaputra R), Myanmar, N & W Thailand, Indochina; also Andamans and C Nicobars (Camorta).
- malayanus (Hay, 1847) - S China (Yunnan E to Guangdong).
- stictonotus (Sharpe, 1875) - SE Siberia, Sakhalin, NE China, N Korea.
- japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1844 - Japan.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird perched at night. Locality Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India (ssp rufipennis)
Josep del Hoyo 30 November 2009 2 years ago 37 sec 4.3 -
Oriental Scops, migrant bird found roosting. Locality Happy Island, Hebei, China (Northern) (ssp stictonotus)
Mark Andrews 14 May 2010 1 year ago 24 sec 3.7 -
spotlighted ventral view Locality Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India (ssp sunia)
Martin Kennewell 6 April 2010 1 year ago 7 sec 2.8 -
A partially obscured bird roosting in a bush Locality Happy Island, Hebei, China (Northern)
Keith Blomerley 13 May 2010 1 year ago 18 sec 2.7 -
calling bird, spotlighted in the canopy Locality Chidiya Tapu Biological Park, South Andaman, Andaman Islands, Andaman and Nicobar (ssp modestus)
Martin Kennewell 22 December 2007 2 years ago 21 sec 2.7 -
A bird perched behind the branches of a tree. Locality Beidaihe, Hebei, China (Northern) (ssp stictonotus)
Eldert Groenewoud 2 May 2008 2 years ago 17 sec 2.4
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A bird on a branch at night.
Locality Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India (ssp rufipennis)
Josep del Hoyo 30 November 2009 2 years ago 3.7 -
Scops Owl perched on low tree branch.
Locality Mysore, Mysore District, Karnataka, India
Ragoorao 14 May 2010 1 year ago 3.5 -
Oriental Scops-Owl, roosting migrant, Beidaihe, China
Locality Beidaihe, Hebei, China (Northern)
Mark Andrews 5 May 2008 2 years ago 3
- No sound recordings available yet
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