West Solomons Owl

Open encyclopedia reference

The West Solomons owl (Athene jacquinoti), also referred to as the West Solomons boobook, is a small to medium-sized owl, measuring 23–31 cm (9.1–12.2 in) in length. Its upperparts are rusty brown, sometimes spotted or barred with white, its chest is buffy white, sometimes spotted or barred with brown, and its creamy belly is unmarked. It has a grayish-brown facial disc, edged by narrow white eyebrows and a band of white across the throat. When he first described the species in 1850, Charles Lucien Bonaparte assigned it to the genus Athene. It was later reclassified in the genus Ninox, which contains many other small owls found throughout the Indo-Pacific, but later phylogenetic studies have found it to group within the genus Athene. The specific epithet honors Charles Hector Jacquinot, a French explorer who spent considerable time in the Pacific. Its common name refers the Solomon Islands, on which it occurs.

Wikipedia contributors, West Solomons owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:09:38.628757+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Athene jacquinoti Bonaparte, 1850

Name authority

Bonaparte, 1850

Common name

West Solomons Owl

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Strigiformes

Family

Strigidae

Genus

Athene

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. subfamilySurniinae
12. genusAthene F. Boie, 1822
13. speciesAthene jacquinoti Bonaparte, 1850

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Athene. 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. Bonaparte, & Carolo Luciano. (1850). Conspectus Generum Avium, Vol. 1. 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:5W7C3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.