The Seram boobook (Ninox squamipila), also Hantu boobook, Moluccan boobook or Moluccan hawk owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found on the Indonesian islands of Seram, Kelang and Ambon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It used to be considered a subspecies of the Moluccan boobook.
It is known to make loud vocalizations in the early evening.
It eats wild rats and snakes.
Taxonomy
The Seram boobook is part of a species complex that comprises four species. All four species used to be considered as part of a single species, the Moluccan boobook, which was classified under the scientific name Ninox squamipila used in a broader sense.
The four species of Moluccan boobook currently recognised are:
Ninox squamipila (Bonaparte, 1850) - Seram boobook - Seram Island in the southern Maluku Islands Ninox forbesi (PL Sclater, 1883) - Tanimbar boobook - Tanimbar Islands Ninox hypogramma (GR Gray, 1861) - Halmahera boobook - northern Maluku Islands of Halmahera, Ternate, and Bacan Ninox hantu (Wallace, 1863) - Buru boobook - Buru Island in the southern Maluku Islands
References
Norman, J.A., L. Christidis, M. Westerman, and F.A. Richard-Hall. 1998. Molecular data confirm the species status of the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl Ninox natalis. Emu 98: 197–208. Rheindt, F.E., and R.O. Hutchinson. 2007. A photoshot odyssey through the confused avian taxonomy of Seram and Buru (southern Moluccas). BirdingASIA 7: 18–38.