• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	B1ab(ii,iii,v)	B1ab(ii,iii,v); C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,v)
2012	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,v)
2008	Endangered	B1a+b(iii)
2006	Endangered
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	4,800 km2	medium
Number of locations	5	-
Severely fragmented?	yes	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	good	estimated	2000
Population trend	decreasing	good	suspected	1998-2008
Generation length	3.7 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: In Arabuko-Sokoke, a population of c.1,000 pairs (stable between 1984 and 1998) occurs in c.220 km² of forest. In the East Usambaras, there are c.97 km² of suitable habitat and densities range from less than 1.5 pairs/km² up to 3-4 pairs/km², suggesting a population in the low hundreds. The total population is estimated to number at least 2,500 individuals and is placed in the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals. This equates to 3,750-14,999 individuals in total, rounded here to 3,500-15,000 individuals.

Trend justification: This species's population is suspected to be declining in line with habitat degradation within its range. Unsustainable removal of large Brachylaena trees, which were thought to be its main resource for nest-cavities, was suspected to be critical, but there may now be few if any of these trees remaining in Arabuko-Sokoke. Playback surveys in 2005 and 2008, and compared with data from 1993, suggest that the species may have undergone declines of 22.5 % in 16 years in Arabuko-Sokoke (Virani et al. 2010). Climate change could lead to a decline in suitable habitat of over 60% by 2080 (Monadjem et al. 2013), but this is considerably more than 3 generations for this species, and the likely overall rate of population decline over this time period has not been estimated.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Kenya	Arabuko-Sokoke Forest
Tanzania	East Usambara Mountains

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 400 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Sokoke Scops-owl Otus ireneae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/sokoke-scops-owl-otus-ireneae on 29/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 29/12/2024.