Granny owl
| Granny owl | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Strix butleri | ||||||||||
| ( Hume , 1878) |
The Omankauz ( Strix butleri ), also called desert owl, is a species of owl from the genus Strix . He lives in mountain and desert regions on the Arabian Peninsula . The species was named after the British ornithologist and officer Edward Arthur Butler .
features
The Omankauz reaches a body size of 30 to 34 centimeters. Its plumage is light and rather monochrome, the underside is light and not striped, only thinly and indistinctly banded in light ocher yellow. Grannies owls have a round head and deep yellow eyes.
It can be confused with the tawny owl . However, this one is larger and darker in color and always has dark eyes. The Lilith owl is very pale like the Omankauz, but much smaller. Similar to the little owl , the Lilith owl has a very low forehead, so that, unlike the omaniac owl, it looks extremely flat-headed.
distribution and habitat
Since its first description, the Arabian Peninsula to the Dead Sea , the south of Israel , Lebanon , Syria and Jordan as well as the Sinai peninsula and the northeast of Egypt as well as the south coast of Iran and Pakistan have been given as distribution areas.
Although the type specimen comes from Pakistan (province of Balochistan ) , no other Owls or breeding pairs have ever been observed there. The occurrence in Iran is also unproven and could have come about through a misinterpretation after the division of Balochistan between Iran and today's state of Pakistan.
Recent research has shown that the oman owl is split into two species, with the species Strix hadorami ( gray owl ), newly described in 2015, occupying the majority of the range of the bird, which was previously regarded as Strix butleri . The occurrence of the oman owl must be redefined; it could be reduced to an area in northern Oman , from where the taxon Strix omanensis was described in 2013 . It is believed that this is not a species of its own, but a population of Strix butleri . Strix omanensis was re-described mainly because of its calls, which were markedly different from those of the populations on the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula or in Israel. In any case, these are no longer counted as Strix butleri , but rather as Strix hadorami . Northern Oman could therefore be the actual breeding area of Strix butleri and the name Strix omanensis just a junior synonym for Strix butleri . Comparative molecular genetic studies are still pending , as Strix omanensis has so far only been described on the basis of photos.
The Omankauz is a resident bird that inhabits rocky deserts and semi-deserts as well as rocky mountain slopes. It can also be seen in the vicinity of human settlements.
Way of life
Original information about the way of life of Strix butleri today mainly refers to Strix hadorami . The vaults collected in Oman contained 22 individual prey animals, three rodent species ( Acomys cahirinus , Gerbillus nanus, and Gerbillus dasyurus ), at least two undetermined gecko species and one scorpion. Acomys cahirinus represented the largest share of prey with 31.8% and lizards with 27.3%. An owl in Oman had killed a laughing dove ( Spilopelia senegalensis ). Nothing is known about the reproductive behavior of the omaniac owl.
Research history
Initial description
Allan Octavian Hume described the Omankauz in 1878 as a species of the genus Asio ( ear owls ). Although he noticed the lack of the typical tufts of ears, he assumed that it might be a new genus or sub-genus. Therefore, he put a question mark after the title of his first description : "Asio butleri Sp. Nov.?" The epithet butleri honors the British officer and ornithologist Edward Arthur Butler . In the reason for the name, Hume wrote:
"This skin I owe to my indefatigable and devoted coadjutor, Captain EA Butler, after whom I have named it, and to whom I must not neglect to express my many obligations. He procured it for me through one of his friends Mr. Nash, I believe from Omara, on the Mekran Coast. (German: I owe this brat to my tireless and devoted assistant, Captain EA Butler, after whom I named him and to whom I do not want to neglect to express my multiple obligations. He got it for me through one of his friends, Mr. Nash, I believe Omara on the Makran coast . "
The unclear indication of the type locality often led to inconsistencies in the information on the distribution area of the oman owl. The place indicated is probably the port city of Ormara in today's Pakistan . However, it remains unclear whether the bellows came from the area around the city or from the Balochistan region , which today extends over a province on the south coast of the states of Pakistan and Iran . In any case, no other specimens of the bird were observed in this area and it could be a stray visitor from the Arabian Peninsula . In more recent registers of the birds of Iran and Pakistan, the possibility is also taken into account that the type specimen was brought by Arab traders to Ormara, from where it was passed on by the telegraph clerk Nash to Butler and from there to Hume.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Claus König , Friedhelm Weick: Owls of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2008, pp. 364-365.
- ↑ W. Holt, R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. Enríquez Rocha, JL Petersen, JL Rangel Salazar, KP Segars, KL Wood, Guy M. Kirwan: Hume's Owl (Strix butleri). In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, DA Christie, E. de Juana (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2015 (accessed January 12, 2015)
- ↑ a b Guy M. Kirwan, Manuel Schweizer, José Luis Copete: Multiple lines of evidence confirm that Hume's Owl Strix butleri (AO Hume, 1878) is two species, with description of an unnamed species (Aves: Non-Passeriformes: Strigidae) . In: Zootaxa. 3904, 1, 2015, pp. 28-50.
- ^ A b Allan Octavian Hume: Asio butleri, Sp. Nov.? In: The Auk . 7, 1878, pp. 316-318. (Facsimile at BHL)
- ↑ CS Roselaar, M. Aliabadian: Review of rare birds in Iran, 1860s – 1960s. In: Podoces. 4, 1, 2009, pp. 1-27.
literature
- Allan Octavian Hume: Asio butleri, Sp. Nov.? In: The Auk . 7, 1878, pp. 316-318. (Facsimile at BHL) (first description)
- Pp. 336–337., Peter Grant, Killian Mullarney, Peter H. Barthel: Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08401-9 .
- Claus König , Friedhelm Weick: Owls of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2 .
Web links
- Strix butleri inthe IUCN 2020 Red List of Endangered Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- W. Holt, R. Berkley, C. Deppe, P. Enríquez Rocha, JL Petersen, JL Rangel Salazar, KP Segars, KL Wood, Guy M. Kirwan : Hume's Owl (Strix butleri). In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, DA Christie, E. de Juana (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2015. (accessed January 12, 2015)