CITY OF MALOLOS 鈥� A believed 4-month-old juvenile Philippine Scops owl (Otus megalotis) was rescued on Friday by residents and government personnel in a forested area in Sta. Maria town in Bulacan province.
Julius Victor Degala, head of Bulacan Environment and Natural Resources Office (Benro), said in a report Saturday, March 18, that personnel from his office helped Eliza Bazco, a concerned citizen, in rescuing at around 7:30 a.m. the fowl found near their backyard in Sitio (sub-village) Manggahan in Barangay Pulong Buhangin.
The Scops owl is about six inches tall and 700 grams in weight. The owl is considered to be an endemic species in the Philippines.
Degala told the Inquirer in an interview Saturday that the Scops owl most likely fell from its nest in the forested areas.
The owl was immediately turned over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Guiguinto to be taken care of until its release to the wild.
Scops owls are considered endemic in the Sierra Madre mountain range but stray to adjacent forested areas in Bulacan.