Cinnabar Boobook vs Common corncockle

Ninox ios compared with Agrostemma githago

Key Differences

Cinnabar Boobook is Least Concern while Common corncockle is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cinnabar Boobook	Common corncockle
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Strigiformes (Owls)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family	Strigidae (True Owls)	Caryophyllaceae
Genus	Ninox	Agrostemma
Species	Ninox ios	Agrostemma githago

Conservation Status

Cinnabar Boobook

LC — Least Concern

Common corncockle

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cinnabar Boobook	Common corncockle
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cinnabar Boobook

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found in Norway.

Common corncockle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including montane grasslands and shrublands, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho), Asia (7 countries), Europe (24 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Brazil, Chile). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cinnabar Boobook

The cinnabar boobook (Ninox ios) is a small owl in the family Strigidae, endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia. It inhabits primary and mature secondary forest at low to mid elevations on the island, typically in humid lowland to foothill forest. Like other boobook owls, it is nocturnal, roosting in dense foliage during the day and hunting small vertebrates and invertebrates by night. The cinnabar boobook has rich rufous-brown upperparts and a distinctive reddish coloration that gives the species its evocative common name. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, with populations considered stable within its Sulawesi forest range. Sulawesi is a biogeographically remarkable island at the intersection of the Asian and Australian faunal zones, hosting a high proportion of endemic species. The island's forests face ongoing pressure from logging, mining, and agricultural encroachment, but the cinnabar boobook's adaptability to secondary forest provides some resilience. The species is entirely restricted to Sulawesi and does not occur in Europe; any database records listing Norway are data entry errors. The genus Ninox comprises the boobook owls of Australasia and Southeast Asia, with numerous island endemic species across Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific islands.

Common corncockle

<em>Agrostemma githago</em>, commonly known as common corncockle, is an annual flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. Once a widespread weed of cereal crops across Europe, Asia, and beyond, this species is now Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to the dramatic decline caused by modern agricultural practices, particularly improved grain cleaning and herbicide use. Corncockle is a tall, slender plant covered in silky white hairs, bearing large, solitary pink to purple flowers with distinctive dark veining. Its seeds contain toxic saponin compounds called githagins, which historically contaminated grain supplies. The species now survives primarily in wildflower conservation areas, seed banks, and traditional farmland conservation schemes. It typically grows in open, disturbed arable soils with full sun exposure. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.