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New split for North Africa : Maghreb Wood Owl (1 Viewer)

I assume this is Strix (aluco) mauritanica (Witherby 1905), the Maghreb or Barbary Owl. I think Maghreb Wood Owl invites confusion or comparison with some of the Asiatic species (e.g. S. leptogrammica, S. seloputo), and Maghreb Tawny Owl means we would have to rename our Tawny Owl.
 
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I assume this is Strix (aluco) mauritanica (Witherby 1905), the Maghreb or Barbary Owl. I think Maghreb Wood Owl invites confusion or comparison with some of the Asiatic species (e.g. S. leptogrammica, S. seloputo)

I would have thought 'Maghreb' was clear enough. Maghreb Tawny Owl would do for me - if it really does justify a split.

We already have Maghreb Wheatear (sort of), Maghreb Magpie and Maghreb Lark of course.

Steve
 
I would have thought 'Maghreb' was clear enough. Maghreb Tawny Owl would do for me - if it really does justify a split.
Maghreb Tawny Owl would've been my first thought for a name for it, but Maghreb Wood Owl has the advantage that Tawny Owl can stay Tawny Owl, and doesn't have to be clarified as "European Tawny Owl" or "Northern Tawny Owl" or whatever :t:
 
Maghreb Tawny Owl would've been my first thought for a name for it, but Maghreb Wood Owl has the advantage that Tawny Owl can stay Tawny Owl, and doesn't have to be clarified as "European Tawny Owl" or "Northern Tawny Owl" or whatever :t:

I agree.
If it's the only owl species unique to the Maghreb then 'Maghreb Owl' would surely suffice.
Keep things simple :t:
 
I agree.
If it's the only owl species unique to the Maghreb then 'Maghreb Owl' would surely suffice.
Keep things simple :t:
Not at the moment, but I guess there could be potential for future splits in the local endemic subspecies of African Marsh Owl (Asio capensis tingitanus) and Little Owl (Athene noctua saharae).
 
Do you have a link to these works?
Brito PH. 2005. The influence of Pleistocene glacial refugia on Tawny Owl genetic diversity and phylogeography in western Europe. Mol. Ecol., 14: 3077-3094.
[pdf]

Doña J, Ruiz-Ruano FJ, Jovani R. 2016. DNA barcoding of Iberian Peninsula and North Africa Tawny Owls Strix aluco suggests the Strait of Gibraltar as an important barrier for phylogeography. Mitoch. DNA A, 27: 4475-4478.
[pdf] [suppl. mat. on FigShare] [data on BOLD]

Robb MS, The Sound Approach. 2015. Undiscovered Owls. Enefco House, Poole, Dorset.
This is a book, see https://soundapproach.co.uk/product/undiscovered-owls/; the link in the last post is a "web-book" version of it. (For the whole "web-book", go [here].)
 
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Reading the Sound Approach pages posted it all seems reasonable to me, there are plenty of tough to ID owls and this one does have a pellicular call, is consistently distinct in plumage and seems mainly to inhabit evergreen "Mediterranean type" woodlands (like Atlas Cedar, Cork Oak and pines etc.) through Morocco and Tunisia at least.
 
The way things are now, I'm surprised they haven't called it a 'Wadi Gerbil Assassin', all written in Arabic of course.

and here's the thread I started for "most Imperialistic comment on another thread"...oh wait...couldn't be bothered...
 
I would not interpret local differences without a large library of sounds from multiple localities. I know how incredibly variable are calls of Tawny Owls. I heard a variety of muffled and garbled songs, half-finished songs and sounds in between the usual call and the hooting song. This spring I heard a bird calling for long time with a disyllabic hoot, which sounded like the start of a normal song without the main part. I see no reason why in North Africa there should be no similar variation.

Of, course, there might be an undiscovered cryptic Strix owl breeding in Switzerland. ;)
 
I would not interpret local differences without a large library of sounds from multiple localities. I know how incredibly variable are calls of Tawny Owls. I heard a variety of muffled and garbled songs, half-finished songs and sounds in between the usual call and the hooting song. This spring I heard a bird calling for long time with a disyllabic hoot, which sounded like the start of a normal song without the main part. I see no reason why in North Africa there should be no similar variation.

Of, course, there might be an undiscovered cryptic Strix owl breeding in Switzerland. ;)

This caught my attention, because in Czech Republic and Poland, I have basically never heard a Tawny Owl deviate significantly from the typical tune. Also for example the Desert Owl (which is quite related) has a call like a recording of itself, both in Israel and Oman.
 
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