Otus beccarii (Salvadori, 1876)

Bishop, K. David, 2023, The avifauna of Biak Island, Papua, Indonesia with comments on status, conservation, natural history and taxonomy, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143 (1), pp. 3-62 : 38

BIAK SCOPS OWL Otus beccarii # RR, Vulnerable

Local names Mandibi (Kuneff), Man Kainabèn (Sansundi).

Range Biak, Supiori.

Taxonomy Treated by Marshall (1978) as a race of Moluccan Scops Owl O. magicus . Rasmussen (1998) examined two specimens and noted that it is so distinct in plumage that she was compelled to concur with Stresemann (1925) and Mayr & Meyer de Schauensee (1939) in giving beccarii specific status. This was endorsed by König et al. (2008), who stated ‘Despite the similarity of its song to that of Moluccan Scops Owl O. magicus we consider beccarii a full species because of its strikingly different plumage and its isolated and allopatric distribution.’

Status Endemic species. The holotype, a male, was collected by Beccari in 1875 (Salvadori 1875). It was not recorded again until 1937 when Ripley obtained a pair from ‘a heavy vine-covered tree in deep forest’ near Korrido in southern Supiori ( Mayr & Meyer de Schauensee 1939). These three are the only specimens. During 1982 KDB heard it calling at several locations from the vicinity of Kuneff, to his camp at c. 305 m. Local informants at Kuneff appeared to be quite familiar with the species. Not recorded again until 1997 when SvB & B. M. Beehler heard one in and around Biak Utara Reserve . The species is specially sought by most visitors to the island and, with the aid of sound recordings of its voice, has been found, contrary to earlier perceptions, to be widespread and fairly common in remaining tall forest and mature secondary forest throughout southern Biak ( Fig. 11 ). However , it is apparently absent from heavily degraded forest and secondary woodland. The northern two-thirds of Biak and most of Supiori are virtually unsurveyed, but the species is likely to be present there. This , the south-easternmost Otus in the Asia-Pacific region, is the only scops owl in Australasia.

Figures

Figure 11. Biak Scops Owl Otus beccarii, Biak, 5 July 2017 (© Daniel Lopez-Velasco)