Eagle-Owl eyes

[Ramon Quisumbing]

I was very fortunate yesterday to be invited to join a group of 7 PBPF members hosted by Ding Carpio to see a Philippine Eagle-Owl (Bubo philippensis) - an uncommon endemic and a lifer for me - roosting in a big acacia tree beside Ding's office building in the Manila Water compound on Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City. I would never have thought such a big and majestic bird would live in that area with all the traffic nearby. There must be a lot of mice and other prey available. And it has been protected in the Manila Water compound for years (according to an employee). Many thanks, Ding, for making this possible.

I will not post my photos, as I am sure the other members will post better photos (Also, I screwed up the settings on my new camera to take Raw and small jpeg photos, and to my dismay, it took only 2 sets of small jpeg photos. Ely and I are trying to figure out the problem.).

I will post only this one unusual photo showing the very different sizes of the Eagle-Owl's pupils, because the left pupil is in direct sunlight whereas the right pupil is not. Hence, the left pupil is half the size of the right pupil.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800 mm lens, 1.4x converter, tripod with half-gimbal, F/8, ISO-640, 1/125 sec., taken from about 50 meters away.


Ding, according to the Manila Water employee, this Eagle-Owl and its mate have been there for years, and they had a nest in the office building. But its mate got sick and fell down some time ago, and it was retrieved by an employee who brought it home to take care of it. Perhaps you can identify the employee and have him return the mate??? It would be wonderful if this Eagle -Owl had his/her mate back, and they continue breeding.

[Ely Teehankee]

The left eye which is to our right is smaller because the owl is squinting from the brightness of the sun, as the eye lid membrane is closing part of it . I think this is similar to the nictating membrane that kingfishers have to protect their eye but can still see when they are on the water. It is still a good consolation that you were able to see the biggest Philippine owl which to me is as rare as seeing a falling star.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Thanks, Ely, although it appears to be the iris (the yellow muscular diaphragm that regulates the amount of light that enters the pupil) that is closing, rather than an eyelid membrane. You're right that seeing the biggest Philippine owl was a real treat.

[Ding Carpio]

I hear different stories from different people, Ramon. One story is that there were three of them. One owl, rather old and sick, fell and was picked up and brought home. The remaining two still reside up at the corner of the building (which is inaccessible to humans). But yes, I'll do some poking around and find out.

You are most welcome to come back, Ramon, when you've figured out how to sort out your camera. Will let you know if the owl is still there. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait a few days; I have a business trip tomorrow.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Ding, thank you for your gracious invitation to take more photos of the Eagle-Owl. Let me know when you invite the next batch of birders.

Good luck on finding and recovering the sick Eagle-Owl.

[Ariel Matias]

It seems to me that the owl is huge! Sayang, I woke up too late. :-(

[mantarey]

Very nice close-up portrait Ramon. :-)

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Ariel, yes, this Eagle-Owl is huge.

Thank you, Rey.