Anjouan scops owl

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Anjouan scops owl
Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Owls (Strigiformes)
Family : Real owls (Strigidae)
Genre : Scops Owls ( Otus )
Type : Anjouan scops owl
Scientific name
Otus capnodes
( Gurney , 1889)

The Anjouan scops owl ( Otus capnodes ) is a rare scops owl species within the family of real owls that is endemic to the Comoros island of Anjouan .

description

The Anjouan scops owl was originally considered a subspecies of the Madagascar scops owl ( Otus rutilus ). The Angouan scops owl differs from it by a darker plumage, less white markings on the shoulder feathers, longer wings and the unfeathered lower part of the tarsus. The shaft stripes on the outer hems of the hand wings are yellowish brown. According to John Henry Gurney's original description, it reaches a size of 20 to 22 cm. The wing length is 171 mm and the tarsus length 34 mm. There are two color morphs: one is dark brown and the other is a lighter reddish brown color. The spring ears are very short and usually not visible. Her call is a long drawn-out whistling reminiscent of Limikolen , which is uttered at 10-second intervals.

The species inhabits the remains of the high-lying primary mountain forests on the island at altitudes over 500, but mostly over 800 meters. No data are available on food, hunting methods and breeding biology.

Danger

The Anjouan scops owl occurs in a forest area near Lingoni near Pomohl in the southwest of the island

The Anjouan scops owl was thought to be extinct between 1886 and 1992. 31 specimens were shot between 1884 and 1886 and are now in the natural history museums of Cambridge , London , New York , Norwich and Paris . In 1906 and 1907 no more copies could be found. In 1959 a search operation carried out by the English ornithologist Constantine Walter Benson on behalf of the British Ornithologists' Union failed . In June 1992 the species was rediscovered in a forest fragment near Lingoni . Exact information about the stock is not certain. While a census in 1995 showed 96 specimens, the ornithologist Roger Safford estimated the population at 200 pairs in 1999. The Anjouan scops owl occurs only in a very small fragmented forest area of ​​120 km², which is endangered by agricultural use, clearing and charcoal extraction. Invasive plant species such as Rubus rosifolius and Lantana represent an additional risk, as they built their owl nesting and sleeping caves only in native trees. Cyclones and introduced house rats are also affecting the population. Considerations to introduce the Anjouan scops owl to the neighboring island of Mohéli were not realized because of fear of negative effects for the Mohéli scops owl ( Otus moheliensis ), which was only discovered in 1995 .

literature

  • David Day: The Doomsday Book of Animals. Ebury Press, London 1981, ISBN 0670279870 .
  • James R. Duncan: Owls of the World. Firefly Buffalo NY 2003, ISBN 1-55297-845-1 , pp. 219-220.
  • James Cowan Greenway: Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. Dover Publ., New York 1967.
  • Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 424). A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg Lutherstadt 1986.
  • Erik Hirschfeld: The Rare Birds Yearbook 2008. MagDig Media Ltd., Shrewsbury 2007, ISBN 978-0-9552607-3-5 .

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