Philippine Eagle-owl
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Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae

[Photo] Philippine Eagle-Owl, Bubo philippensis. Bird Stamp of Philippines, 2004. Source: http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/7808500.htm

The Philippine Eagle Owl, Bubo philippensis is an endangered and rare bird species belonging to the Strigidae family.

A Philippine endemic and one of the largest owls in the world, it lives near lakes in lowland jungles in the Philippines islands of Catanduanes, Samar, Mindanao, Luzon and Leyte.

It has a wingspan of 48 inches (120 cm).

The Philippine Eagle Owl kept at the Negros Forests and Ecological Foundation's Biodiversity Conservation Center in Bacolod City, laid an egg. On December, 2005, NFEFI was the first conservation center in the world to successfully hatch a Philippine Eagle Owl (aptly nicknamed Bubo) in captivity and has the only breeding pair of these owls in captivity anywhere in the world. In 2006, it also laid one egg and an owlet was hatched (through the aid of the World Owl Trust, Flora and Fauna International-Philippine Biodiversity Conservation program and the Avilon Zoological Park in Montalban Rizal). What the eagle-owl eats is a mystery for the species is so poorly known, and like the lesser eagle-owl (Mimizuku guerneyi) they live only in lowland forest, and their large size require large tracts of forest to maintain populations.

On November 21, 2005 conservationists at the Negros Forest and Ecological Foundation Inc. (NFEFI) in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental made world history when it successfully bred in captivity a Philippine Eagle Owl, aptly nicknamed “Bubo.” Llocally known as “kuwago” or “bukao” it is one of the largest species of owls in the world and can only be found in the Philippines. Historiclly, NFEFI secured the first-ever captive breeding loan between DENR-accredited institutions in the Philippines, consisting of 3 pairs of eagle-owls from the Avilon Montalban Zoological Park in Montalban, Rizal and transported to Bacolod in December 2002. 2 pairs showed attraction, and the couple “Hinahon” and “Suplada,” local term for “calm” and “snob,” made courtship. It was on November 21, that an owlet was discovered in the nest about 3 days old, and named “Bubo.” As Bubo grew, Suplada taught it how to tear pieces of mouse meat, thus rearing it. It was thus a world's first, and the eagle-owl lays 1 egg per clutch with incubation period of 35 days.

Subspecies
Bubo philippensis philippensis
Bubo philippensis mindanensis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Eagle-owl

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