Other Names (World)
Brown Boobook, Brown Hawk-Owl, Oriental Brown Hawk-owl, Hume's Brown Hawk-owl, Philippine Brown Hawk-owl, Burmese Brown Hawk-owl, Indonesian Punggok
Bangladesh (B), Bhutan (B), Brunei Darussalam (B), Cambodia (B), China (mainland) (B), Hong Kong (China), India (B), Indonesia (B), Japan (B), Laos (B), Malaysia (B), Myanmar (B), Nepal (B), North Korea (B), Philippines (B), Russia (Asian) (B), Singapore (B), South Korea (B), Sri Lanka (B), Taiwan (China) (B), Thailand (B), Vietnam (B).
Vagrant to Australia, Kazakhstan.
Unknown to Palau.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Voice
A mellow, rising falsetto whistle 'pung-ok', the second being shorter and with rising inflection, repeated every one or two seconds. Also described as 'hoho'.
Brown Hawk-Owl (Ninox scutulata) [XC778966]
by Kingshuk Mondal from Nam Mang 3, Phou Khao Khouay NP, Vientiane Province, Laos (song)
Brown Hawk-Owl (Ninox scutulata) [XC295772]
by Prateik Kulkarni from Choam Ksant, Preah Vihear, Cambodia (song)
Subspecies
Relationships uncertain. Subspecies obscura perhaps specifically distinct, but many others doubtfully separable subspecifically. Name scutulata formerly applied to populations from eastern China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan (currently japonica) on erroneous supposition that type specimen, from Sumatra, was migrant form. Populations now recognized as nominate form were placed in subspecies malaccensis.
The following 13 subspecies are recognised:
ussuriensis Buturlin, 1910 - South-eastern Siberia, south-eastern Manchuria and northern Korea.
japonica (Temminck and Schlegel, 1844) - Russian Far East to Korea, Japan; Taiwan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Northern Boobook (Ninox japonica).
lugubris (Tickell, 1833) - Northern and central India to western Assam.
hirsuta (Temminck, 1824) - Southern India and Sri Lanka.
obscura Hume, 1873 - Andaman and Nicobar Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Hume's Boobook (Ninox obscura).
burmanica Hume, 1876 - Eastern Assam to southern China, south to northern Malay Peninsula, Thailand and Indochina.
palawanensis Ripley & Rabor, 1962 - Palawan.
randi Deignan, 1951 - Philippine Islands, Sulu Archipelago and Talaud Archipelago. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Chocolate Boobook (Ninox randi).
scutulata (Raffles, 1822) - Southern Malay Peninsula, Riau Archipelago, Sumatra and Bangka.
javanensis Stresemann, 1928 - Western Java.
borneensis (Bonaparte, 1850) - Borneo and northern Natuna Is.
isolata Baker, ECS, 1926 - Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands).
rexpimenti Abdulali, 1979 - Great Nicobar (Nicobar Islands).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9