Giant Scops Owl (1 Viewer)

[Richard Klim]

Allen & Collar 2013. Giant Scops Owl Otus [Mimizuku] gurneyi restored to the Samar avifauna. BirdingASIA 19: 59–60.

...
Plate 1. Giant Scops Owl Otus gurneyi tied on hunter's pole, Barangay Surok, Borongan, eastern Samar, Philippines, 5 August 2010. Bruce Young.
...
Distressing as it is to witness animals in such circumstances, the record at least offers the encouragement that the Giant Scops Owl has a wider range than was recently believed. Indeed, if the species is present on Samar it is also likely to occure on Leyte, since the avifaunas of the two islands are, or at least were, virtually identical ...
A number of species share a range on the three large islands of Mindanao, Samar and Leyte, ... e.g. ...; so the record of Giant Scops Owl from Samar fits an established pattern.
However, several of the species listed above are differentiated at the subspecies level between Mindanao on the one side and Samar and Leyte on the other, and in some cases the levels of morphological differentiation have been sufficient to redefine species limits in taxa across these islands: ...
Future searchers for the Giant Scops Owl (and other species) in Samar and Leyte might therefore bear in mind the possibility that the birds on these islands may prove to be taxonomically distinct from those of Mindanao.

 

[Richard Klim]

HBW Alive

Species account updated by Guy Kirwan today...

Taxonomy: ... Given level of subspecific (or higher) differentiation between populations of other bird species on Samar versus those on Mindanao, it has been suggested that individuals of this species on Samar might also prove to be taxonomically distinct.

Distribution: ... and Samar.

Status and conservation: ... Possibility that it occurs on other islands nearby where suitable habitat exists requires investigation; specimen record from Damar proved instead to be of Bubo philippensis, but subsequently photographs of a bird hunted on the island in Aug 2010 emerged, thereby not only restoring the species to the avifauna of Samar, but reawaking the possibility that it might occur on Leyte.

Allen, D.N.S. & Collar, N.J. (2013) Giant Scops Owl Otus [Mimizuku] gurneyi restored to the Samar avifauna. BirdingASIA 19: 59-60.

Can't get much more 'Alive' than that!

 

[lewis20126]

Species account updated by Guy Kirwan today...

Can't get much more 'Alive' than that!

Great stuff...but might be less "alive" when Guy goes on a trip! I hope JdH has got some holiday cover lined up.

I had a brief look at some of the plates of the new species last night online. I couldn't see a single difference in the two images of Cryptic Forest-falcon that appeared. Are there any?

cheers, alan

 

[Richard Klim]

Cryptic Forest-falcon

I had a brief look at some of the plates of the new species last night online. I couldn't see a single difference in the two images of Cryptic Forest-falcon that appeared. Are there any?

There's only a single image in the Special Volume. Maybe the HBW Alive team is having a cryptic joke...

 

[dnsallen]

Species account updated by Guy Kirwan today...

Can't get much more 'Alive' than that!

I haven't seen a pdf or the printed article yet, but I hope Damar is a typo that Guy will be able to fix, Richard :eek!:

 

[Richard Klim]

I haven't seen a pdf or the printed article yet, but I hope Damar is a typo that Guy will be able to fix, Richard :eek!:

Didn't notice that, Des. Definitely always Samar in your article.

 

[Richard Klim]

.. I hope Damar is a typo that Guy will be able to fix, Richard :eek!:

Corrected today. Clearly still Alive and kicking.

 

[Richard Klim]

Allen & Collar 2013 pdf

Allen & Collar 2013. Giant Scops Owl Otus [Mimizuku] gurneyi restored to the Samar avifauna. BirdingASIA 19: 59–60.

[pdf]