Serendib Scops Owl
Photo: Peter Wächtershäuser/naturlichter.de at de.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Owls

Serendib Scops Owl

Otus thilohoffmanni

ENEndangered Endemic to Sri Lanka
Family
Owls (Strigidae)
Order
Strigiformes

Overview

The Serendib scops owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) is the most recently discovered bird of Sri Lanka. It was originally located by its unfamiliar poo-ooo call in the Kitulgala rainforest by prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist Deepal Warakagoda. Six years later, it was finally seen by him on 23 January 2001 in Sinharaja, and formally described as a species new to science in 2004. Apart from Sinharaja and Kitulgala, it has also been found at Runakanda Reserve in Morapitiya and Eratna Gilimale.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Lowland rainforest of southwest Sri Lanka.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.