Papuan Hawk Owl
Encyclopedia
The Papuan Hawk Owl, Uroglaux dimorpha is a medium-sized, sleek owl
with a porportionately small head, long tail, and short, rounded wings. Its white facial disk is small and indistinct, with black streaks, and white eyebrows. It has buff colored upperparts and barred black and brown underparts. Its eyes are bright yellow, and it has a gray to black bill
. The male is larger than the female, which is unusual among owls; in most owl species, the female is larger than the male.
Though generally found in lowland rainforest
or gallery forest
in lowland savanna
, the Papuan Hawk Owl is occasionally found at elevations up to 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) above sea level. It is probably a resident species in its restricted range
, New Guinea
.
Not much is known about the status of this species, as insufficient data exists to quantify its population numbers. It is rarely seen, and may be threatened due to deforestation.
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
with a porportionately small head, long tail, and short, rounded wings. Its white facial disk is small and indistinct, with black streaks, and white eyebrows. It has buff colored upperparts and barred black and brown underparts. Its eyes are bright yellow, and it has a gray to black bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
. The male is larger than the female, which is unusual among owls; in most owl species, the female is larger than the male.
Though generally found in lowland rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
or gallery forest
Gallery forest
Gallery forests are evergreen forests that form as corridors along rivers or wetlands and project into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands or deserts....
in lowland savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
, the Papuan Hawk Owl is occasionally found at elevations up to 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) above sea level. It is probably a resident species in its restricted range
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.
Not much is known about the status of this species, as insufficient data exists to quantify its population numbers. It is rarely seen, and may be threatened due to deforestation.