Serendib scops owl (Otus thilohoffmanni)

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT BY JONATHAN BULATHSINGHALA

The Serendib scops owl is one of the 10 species of owls found in Sri Lanka and is also one of the island’s 24 endemic birds. It was discovered in 2004 therefore making it the most recently discovered bird species in Sri Lanka. The last discovered bird since the discovery of the Serendib scops owl was the

Sri Lanka whistling thrush by Bligh in 1872. Prof. Deepal Warakagoda who is a pioneering ornithologist– a person who studies or is an expert on birds, in Sri Lanka first heard its distinctive ‘pu-u’ call in the Kitulgala rainforest and later saw the bird for the first time six years later in 2001 at the Sinharaja rainforest. Pamela Rasmussen and Prof. Deepal Warakagoda collectively described the bird for the first time in 2004. The word Serendib in the bird’s name was given after an old Arabic name for Sri Lanka and its species name Otus thilohffmanni was given after Mr.thilo.w. Hoffmann who was one of Sri Lanka’s leading environmentalists who helped save the Sinharaja rainforest from being destroyed. Along with the Baronet Butterfly the Serendib scops can be seen on a Rs. 20 note.

BEHAVIOUR

The Serendib scops owl is strictly nocturnal which means that it’s only active at night. During the day it roosts just above the ground at a height of 1-2.5m. Its diet consists of nocturnal beatles, insects, lizards and sometimes small mammals such as rodents which it hunts in the undergrowth during the first two hours of darkness.this is done to minimise conflict with other species. After this time period is over it hunts above the undergrowth close to the subcanopy. The Serendib scops owl is one of the few owl species that possess pseudo or false ear tufts. False ear tufts are small feathers that are found on the head of the bird. When frightened or alarmed, the bird constricts these feathers along with the other feathers of its body to take the appearance of a broken branch. This pose is known as the Camouflage Pose.

HABITAT

The Serendib scops owl’s range is confined to only five primary lowland rainforests in the wet zone, between an altitude of 30-530m. All these five rainforests which it has been found in have some degree of human disturbance. An extensive search was done in habitats suitable for the existence of the Serendib scops owl but it was absent in 75% of the searched areas. This could be due to its elusive nature.

STATUS

Because of its extremely small population and limited range the Serendib scops has been evaluated as endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is so elusive that it remained undiscovered for centuries. Forest degradation (deforestation) and fragmentation due to land encroachment has caused the decline of the Serendib scops owl. Due to the above stated facts the Serendib scops owl is one of the rarest birds in the world.