Siau Scops-Owl

The Siau scops owl is a critically endangered owl species. They live on Siau Island, north of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and are (were) forest dwellers. The species is only known from a single holotype from 1866 although there have been more recent potential sightings, including one in 2017. Nonetheless, their already small, relatively barren habitat is being lost to excessive logging of the little forest present on the island and there are assumed to be very few individuals left, if any. The taxonomic arrangement for this owl has not been fully worked out. While recognized as a distinct species by the IOU, others consider it a subspecies of either the Sulawesi scops owl or the Moluccan scops owl, and it has recently been analyzed and found to be closest in morphology to the Sangihe scops owl.