Morphology, plumage, and habitat of the newly described Cinnabar Hawk-Owl from north Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Cinnabar Hawk-Owl (Ninox ios) is a species recently described from a si ngle specimen collected in 1985 from Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. A second bird was trapped on 14 November 1999 i n a mist net set in primary forest at 1420 m in Gunung Ambang Nature Reserv e, North Sulawesi. Compared to the type specimen it had generally similar p lumage and was larger. This second owl was captured on the boundary between an open area of marshland surrounded by kill forest dominated by pioneer s pecies such as Macaranga hispida and Piper aduncum. Both trapped birds, and a recent sight record from Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi, s uggest that N. ios is restricted primarily to high elevation forest on Sula wesi. Although the species is currently known from only three sites, the pa ucity of ornithological research on Sulawesi suggests N. ios may eventually prove to be more widespread.