[Hotspur]

What is the status of Cape Verde Barn Owl? Subspecies or full species or somewhere in the middle?

[bitterntwisted]

You're not trying to string the Barn Owl at Wheldrake into a Cape Verde Barn Owl, James?

CVBO is Tyto detorta, full species according to Sibley at least.

Graham

[Hotspur]

graham, everytime i go down there i see at least 9. honest.

[Steve Lister]

Originally Posted by bitterntwisted

CVBO is Tyto detorta, full species according to Sibley at least.

Graham

Not many others think so though. Cornelius Hazevoet (BOU Checklist The Birds of the Cape Verde Islands) lists it as Tyto detorta, a phylogenetic species, but the normal treatment is Tyto alba detorta.

Steve

[cuckooroller]

Hi James,
Steve is more on this one, at least for the present. The entire Tyto alba complex is in need of review. In need of a definitive answer are the australasian race delicatula, and several of the insular races including detorta, thomensis, deroepstorffi, punctatissima, etc.. The Ripley Guide has recently split deroepstorffi as a good species, though it is still not clear, to me at least, that they offer other than a general indication that it should be split. As far as detorta itself is concerned, only the no longer supported Sibley-Monroe has it split. All other authorities of note list it as a well-marked race of alba.

[njlarsen]

Owls of the world (König et al, 1999) also has T.a. detorta as a subspecies, but also notices that some of the subspecies they recognize may be no more than morphs while others likely should be full species. They among other things note a large difference in the DNA sequence between T.a.alba and T.a. pratincola, the North American form. T.a.pratincola, if it is a subspecies of anything is more likely to belong to T. glaucops, Ashy-faced Owl, according to these authors.

So in conclusion, Steve is correct in saying that the complex is in need of a review! Probably among other things, there is a need for more DNA sequences covering the different forms outside Europe.

Niels

[AlexC]

Clements says subspecies, too.