Wallace's Scops Owl

Open encyclopedia reference

Wallace's scops owl or lesser Sunda scops owl (Otus silvicola) is endemic to the Sumbawa and Flores islands, in the Lesser Sundas chain of Indonesia. It is not rare in most of its habitat and has no subspecies except for the nominate. It is also known as the Lesser Sunda scops owl. It is named after Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, and biologist.

This strictly nocturnal owl has a mostly brown plumage, long ear tufts, bright yellow eyes, and strong underparts streaking. The adult can average 23 to 27 cm (9 to 101/2 inches) in length and weigh about 210g (71/2 ounces). It can be recognized through its vocalization, which resembles the swishing sound of a sword.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), this species has been listed as "Least Concern" since its latest assessment in 2016. That assessment has shown that the species' population trend is stable.

Little is known about this bird and more research is needed to better understand its behaviour, reproduction, and diet patterns.

Wikipedia contributors, Wallace's scops owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:17:50.813519+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Otus silvicola (Wallace, 1864)

Name authority

(Wallace, 1864)

Common name

Wallace's Scops Owl

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Strigiformes

Family

Strigidae

Genus

Otus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderStrigiformes
10. familyStrigidae
11. subfamilyStriginae
12. genusOtus Pennant, 1769
13. speciesOtus silvicola (Wallace, 1864)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Otus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 196 records assigned to Strigidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555386 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4B8JP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.