28 BirdingASIA 29 (2018): 28–30

LITTLE KNOWN ASIAN Northern Boobook japonica in Karimunjawa National Park, Karimunjawa islands, Central Java province, Indonesia, with notes on its distribution and status in Java

IMAM TAUFIQURRAHMAN & HARY SUSANTO

Introduction but the citation Mitchell (1981) refers to a survey of The Northern Boobook Ninox japonica is a Simeulue Island.] nocturnal migratory raptor which was formerly Here we present our observations of the species considered to be conspecific with Brown Boobook on the Karimunjawa islands, Central Java province, N. scutulata, from which it differs vocally and and discuss its identification, habitat, distribution in morphometrics—higher wing-to-tail ratio, and status. The islands lie about 80 km north- proportionately shorter tail and more pointed wings west of Jepara, a small port town in Central (King 2002). It can be recognised by the rufous- Java province. Karimunjawa is an archipelago brown drop-shaped streaks on the underparts, of 27 islands and most of the area is gazetted as whereas the Brown Boobook shows dark brown Karimunjawa National Park; the main island is heart-shaped markings (König & Weick 2008, Karimun and the second largest is Kemujan—the Mahood 2016, del Hoyo et al. 2017). Two races are two islands lie side by side and are often mistaken recognised: florensis, which breeds in south-east one for the other. The avifauna of these islands , northern Korea, north-east and central has been well studied since the nineteenth century , wintering south to the and (Koorders 1889, Vorderman 1889, Chasen & Kloss Wallacea, and japonica, which breeds in east 1933, Susanto 2012, Susanto et al. 2014). However, China, central and south Korea, , the Ryukyu no boobook species was recorded until 2013 when islands, and Lanyu Island; it is resident an image of a single bird was obtained by Mulyadi on Taiwan and Lanyu, while the remainder of the (Susanto & Mulyadi 2014), although HS had an population winters in South-East Asia, the Sundas, unconfirmed observation of a boobook from around Wallacea and the Philippines (König & Weick 2008, 2010, thought to be this species. After the 2013 del Hoyo et al. 2017). sighting, HS gave more attention to the species and Indonesia is one of the species’s non-breeding this resulted in the sightings summarised in Table 1. areas and there is little information on its movements and distribution. It is thought to be uncommon in Fieldwork Borneo, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sundas, more Following up the observation of Susanto & Muladi common in North Sulawesi, including the Sangihe (2014), we investigated the occurrence of the and Talaud islands, but rare in Java (del Hoyo et Northern Boobook on the islands to confirm the al. 2017); there are no reports from New Guinea bird’s identity and to find out more about its (Pratt & Beehler 2015). In Sumatra, where it has distribution. We carried out a survey on Karimun been recorded on seven occasions, information Island from 1–4 March 2017, using a motorcycle and is available only from historical records: Aruah following the main road for 13 km. The main road Islands (November 1906) and Berhala Island (1 was chosen for the observations as a result of HS’s November 1919), Malacca Straits; Lhokseumawe, previous experience and other sightings reported Aceh (27 November 1930); Padang Highlands, West by the park staff and local people, which were also Sumatra (28 January and 10 March 1914); Mega incorporated into our findings (Table 1). A speed Island (4.017°S 101.417°E) (3 December 1963); of 20–25 km per hour was maintained and call and Siberut (or Simeulue—see Editors’ note) (17 playback was not used. Only the motorcycle lights February 1981) (van Marle & Voous 1988). The only were used until a bird was found, when torches record from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) is a were switched on to take a detailed look and obtain single specimen from Upper Mahakam taken in images. To minimise disturbance, observations November 1898 (Mees 1971). were made from 19h30 to 00h30, when the road was [Editors’ note: van Marle & Voous (1988) state quiet. When a bird was encountered, coordinates that the record was from Siberut, Mentawai islands, of the location were recorded and images obtained. BirdingASIA 29 (2018) 29

Table 1. Records of the Northern Boobook Ninox japonica on Karimun and Kemujan Islands, Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java province, Indonesia, between 2013 and 2017.

Date Location Island Source 27/09/2013 Telaga Kemujan Susanto & Mulyadi (2014) 17–18/4/2015 Legon Nipah Kemujan HS pers. obs. 18/11/2016 Legon Jelamun Kemujan HS pers. obs. O 23/11/2016 Nyamplungan Karimun HS & MSJE Mardiko pers. obs. SUSANT 29/11/2016 Legon Jelamun Kemujan HS pers. obs.

21/12/2016 Legon Jelamun Kemujan HS pers. obs. HARY Plates 1 & 2. Northern Boobook Ninox japonica, Legon Goprak, 1–4/3/2017 Legon Goprak Karimun This study Karimun, Central Java province, Indonesia, 4 March 2017. 1–2/3/2017 Nyamplungan Karimun This study 3/3/2017 Jati Kerep Karimun This study 4/3/2017 Alang-alang Karimun This study

During the four nights of our survey, the species was encountered at four locations; on every night two individuals were observed, each at a separate location. The four locations were spread along 6 km of road, with the closest locations, sites 1 and 2 O (Figure 1), about 1 km apart. The species was seen SUSANT on all four nights only at Legon Goprak (site 2).

All the encountered (Plates 1–3) were HARY perched on telephone/power cables along the road, about 5–7 m from the ground. The upperparts were Plate 3. Northern Boobook, Nyamplungan, Karimun, 1 March greyish-brown, the underparts were pale, with a 2017, showing the broad black bars on its tail. pattern of brown drop-shaped streaks rather than the heart-shape pattern of the Brown Boobook. These characters are helpful to distinguish the Northern Boobook from the Brown Boobook as it is not vocal on its non-breeding grounds. Furthermore, as a

Figure 1. Distribution of Northern Boobook records in Karimun and Kemujan islands. Red dots are records from the 2017 survey, with the black line showing the road: 1–Jati Kerep; 2–Legon Goprak; 3–Alang-alang; 4–Nyamplungan; blue dots are reported sightings between 2013 and 2016: a– Nyamplungan; b–Legon Nipah; c–Legon Jelamun; d–Telaga.

d P. Sintok P. Merican P. Kemujan c P. Cendkian P. Tengan b P. Kecil a 3 4 P. Karimun 2 1

P. Menjangan Kecil TAUFIQURRAHMAN

P. Menjangan Barat 0 5 km IMAM 30 Northern Boobook Ninox japonica in Karimunjawa National Park, Karimunjawa islands, Central Java province, Indonesia migrant, the species would be more likely to occur Muhammad Salim Jihad Eko Mardiko for sharing on offshore islands (S. Debus pers. comm. 2017). their observations, and to Swiss Winnasis for Confirmation of the identification was provided by retrieving useful information. Our gratitude goes Sebastian van Balen and Stephen Debus, experts on to Sebastian van Balen and Stephen Debus for Indonesian birds and boobook species respectively. valuable insight on the bird’s identification and for the information on the species’s status. Habitat and distribution The Northern Boobooks that we found were in References small village settlements with gardens and lowland Chasen, F. N. & Kloss, C. B. (1933) On a small collections of birds from the forest within 100–350 m of the shoreline. The Karimoen Djawa Islands. Treubia 14: 165-171. bird seems to have become habituated to well-lit del Hoyo, J., Collar, N. & Marks, J. S. (2017) Northern Boobook roads and settlements; it is assumed that it takes Ninox japonica. HBW Alive. Accessed at http://www.hbw.com/ advantage of the light to catch large insects, its node/467319 on 06/03/2017. main prey, although we did not observe the birds King, B. (2002) Species limits in the Brown Boobook Ninox scutulata taking prey. complex. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 122: 250-257. In all, we found seven locations in Karimunjawa König, C. & Weick, F. (2008) of the world. London: Christopher Helm. National Park where the species is present, on Koorders, H. G. (1889) Report of a mission to Karimondjawa Islands. Karimun and Kemujan, the two main islands. The Natuurkundig tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 48: 20-79, 111-124. species has been seen during March and April, van Marle, J. G. & Voous, K. H. (1988) The birds of Sumatra: an annotated the northbound migration period, and September, checklist. Tring UK: British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU Checklist 10). November and December, during the southbound Mahood, S. P. (2016) The first documented record of Northern Boobook migration and wintering period. Although it was Ninox japonica in Cambodia. BirdingASIA 25: 119-120. not recorded before 2013, the species appears to be Mees, G. F. (1971) Systematic and faunistic remarks on birds from Borneo common and widespread in the park. and Java, with new records. Zool. Med. 45: 225-244. Meise, W. (1941) Ueber die vogelwelt von Noesa Penida bei Bali nach Status in Java einer Sammlung yon Baron Viktor von Plessen. J. Orn. 89(4): 345-367. Northern Boobook is described as a rare migrant to Mitchell, A. H. (1981) Report on a survey of Pulau Simeulue, Aceh, with Java (del Hoyo et al. 2017), although the species is in a proposal for a suaka margasatwa. Unpublished report (WWF fact known only from a specimen held in Naturalis, project no. 1517). Leiden, Netherlands, from Kepulauan Seribu, north Pratt, T. K. & Beehler, B. M. (2015) Birds of Papua New Guinea. Second of Jakarta (S. van Balen pers. comm. 2017). In Bali, edition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. there is a specimen from Nusa Penida island, a bird Sukmantoro, W., Irham, M., Novarino, W., Hasudungan, F., Kemp, N. caught in February 1938 (Meise 1941, S. van Balen & Muchtar, M. (2007) Daftar Burung Indonesia No. 2. Bogor: The pers. comm. 2017). The occurrence of the species on Indonesian Ornithologists’ Union/LIPI/OBC Smythies Fund/Gibbon Karimun and Kemujan Islands therefore confirms Foundation. its presence on satellite islands of Java, with no Susanto, H. (2012) Birds of Karimunjawa National Park. Semarang: Balai known sight record from mainland Java to date. Taman Nasional Karimunjawa. (In Indonesian.) The lack of information on the species’s Susanto, H. & Mulyadi (2014) Jawa and Bali. P.160 in Around the distribution may be a result of its nocturnal Archipelago. Kukila 17(2): 154-177. behaviour and its past taxonomic placement. Susanto, H., Taufiqurrahman, I. & van Balen, S. (Bas) (2014) Waders of It is not listed by Sukmantoro et al. (2007) and Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, Indonesia. Stilt 66: 1-9. the species does not have an Indonesian name. Vorderman, A. G. (1889) On a small collection of birds from the Karimon- Here we propose an Indonesian name ‘pungguk Djawa Archipelago. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië utara’, following Ceklis Atlas Burung Indonesia 48: 145-147. (Indonesian Bird Checklist and Atlas), in order to make the species more familiar and thus draw it Imam TAUFIQURRAHMAN to the attention of Indonesian observers. Further Yayasan Kutilang Indonesia observations on mainland Java and elsewhere in Kompleks UPT Taman Kuliner Condongcatur Blok K1-K3 Indonesia are needed to gain a better understanding Jl. Anggajaya III Condongcatur, Depok, Sleman of the species’s distribution and status. Yogyakarta, Indonesia 55283 Email: [email protected] Acknowledgements IT thanks Sutris Haryanta, Karimunjawa section, Hary SUSANTO Karimunjawa National Park, for his warm reception Balai Taman Nasional Karimunjawa during visits to the park. Special thanks go to Jl. Sinar Waluyo Raya No. 248 Tulus Wicaksono Bayu Aji for advising HS of the Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia 50273 presence of several boobooks, to Mulyadi and Email: [email protected]