Philippine Eagle Owl
PHILIPPINE EAGLE OWL
Bubo philippensis
Strigidae Family
Length 508mm (20" inches)
Endemic- uncommon
Bird #162 - May 2009
This is a very big owl at 20 inches long. Yellow Eyes and big black pupils. Rufous colored head with a cream colored chest and belly with dark brown stripes. The wings and back are rufous colored like the head and there are stripes as well on the head and wings. The ear tufts can be down or up in some pictures they are hardly noticeable but in others like those of the female below they can stick out quite far. The last picture below shows some of the feather detail of the underside of the wing of the immature bird.
We have heard three calls for this species. One is a long haunting hoo and a long pause before another long hoo. Another is a quick ho ho ho ho almost sounds like a monkey. And the last is almost a mewing sound like a cat from the immature very similar to the call of the immature Philippine Scops.
The first time we saw this species was in May 2009. Sylvia and I had just finished taking pictures of a scale feathered malkoha when I heard a strange call on the hillside in the Sierra Madre range near Aurora. I squatted down low on the grass and made sounds like a baby bird and lo and behold this beauty came out. Because of its big size thought at first glance that it was a raptor but eventually saw that it was this large fantastic owl. When presented with a side view it looks like a Philippine Eagle, maybe that's how it got its name. It was so near we were able to get a few really nice captures.
We got to see this species again in January 2012. Three of them, a complete family. Amazingly these birds were in the City. It seems they used a ledge as a nesting site. Karen Ochavo showed us the site and we were able to take pictures. Our pictures are now complete with the male, female and immature birds. We saw the male with a rat that it feed to the immature bird.
After one week I went back and took pictures of the immature just after it fledged. It could fly but it seemed to be waiting to be fed. It was probably still dependent on the adults to feed it. The immature bird was munching on a small twig for some time.
In the future it would be nice to see the other subspecies mindanensis which we have heard in Bohol but have not seen.
Read MoreBubo philippensis
Strigidae Family
Length 508mm (20" inches)
Endemic- uncommon
Bird #162 - May 2009
This is a very big owl at 20 inches long. Yellow Eyes and big black pupils. Rufous colored head with a cream colored chest and belly with dark brown stripes. The wings and back are rufous colored like the head and there are stripes as well on the head and wings. The ear tufts can be down or up in some pictures they are hardly noticeable but in others like those of the female below they can stick out quite far. The last picture below shows some of the feather detail of the underside of the wing of the immature bird.
We have heard three calls for this species. One is a long haunting hoo and a long pause before another long hoo. Another is a quick ho ho ho ho almost sounds like a monkey. And the last is almost a mewing sound like a cat from the immature very similar to the call of the immature Philippine Scops.
The first time we saw this species was in May 2009. Sylvia and I had just finished taking pictures of a scale feathered malkoha when I heard a strange call on the hillside in the Sierra Madre range near Aurora. I squatted down low on the grass and made sounds like a baby bird and lo and behold this beauty came out. Because of its big size thought at first glance that it was a raptor but eventually saw that it was this large fantastic owl. When presented with a side view it looks like a Philippine Eagle, maybe that's how it got its name. It was so near we were able to get a few really nice captures.
We got to see this species again in January 2012. Three of them, a complete family. Amazingly these birds were in the City. It seems they used a ledge as a nesting site. Karen Ochavo showed us the site and we were able to take pictures. Our pictures are now complete with the male, female and immature birds. We saw the male with a rat that it feed to the immature bird.
After one week I went back and took pictures of the immature just after it fledged. It could fly but it seemed to be waiting to be fed. It was probably still dependent on the adults to feed it. The immature bird was munching on a small twig for some time.
In the future it would be nice to see the other subspecies mindanensis which we have heard in Bohol but have not seen.
PHILIPPINE EAGLE OWL, immature Bubo philippensis Balara Compound, Quezon City
birdowlphilippine eagle owleagle owlendemicbubo philippensisbalaraowl familyquezon citytonjiandsylviabirdlistjanuary 20122012january
