A study on breeding ecology and nest characteristics of oriental scops owl (Otus sunia stictonotus) in South Korea

This research was conducted to reveal the characteristics of breeding ecology of oriental scops owl (Otus sunia stictonotus) inhabiting in South Korea according to the nest types during the breeding season from march to October for two years (2011 and 2012). Oriental scops owl nested in woodpecker's nest holes (46.1%), natural tree holes (38.5%), and artificial wood boxes (15.4%). These nests were located on following trees: Zelkova serrata, Paulownia coreana, Celtis sinensis, Salix chaenomeloides, Salix babylonica, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Robinia pseudoacacia and Platanus occidentalis. The hatching success was 91.4%, fledging success was 83.0%, and breeding success was 75.9%. The factors of the breeding failure were falling (57.1%), abandonment (28.6%), hatching failure (7.1%), and others with unknown cause of death (7.1%). According to nest types, the fledging success (69.2%) of woodpecker's nest holes were low and the hatching success (79.2%) of natural tree holes were also low due to hatching failure and abandonment. However, hatching success, fledging success, breeding success were high in the artificial nests as all the eggs hatched and succeeded in fledging. Therefore, we suggested that artificial nests can cover the weaknesses of natural nests as well as increasing the breeding success. However, long-term research on installation place, height, and hole sizes of the artificial nest are required in order to clearly reveal the effects on the breeding success of oriental scops owl.