Seram owl
| Seram owl | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tyto almae | ||||||||||||
| Jønsson , Poulsen , Haryoko , Reeve & Fabre , 2013 |
The seram owl ( Tyto almae ) is a species of owl from the barn owl family (Tytonidae). It is endemic to the Moluccan island of Seram . After 1987 for the first time a picture of a barn owl from the National Park Manusela caught on Seram, the attention of experts, was on 10 February 2012, a copy of Seram Masked Owl in a Japan net caught, photographed, measured, examined and eventually released. In 2013 this species was scientifically described. The species name refers to Alma Jønsson, the daughter of Knud Andreas Jønsson, one of the first to describe the seram owl.
features
Dimensions are only known from the type specimen. It is 30 cm long and weighs 540 g. The upper surface, including most of the upper wing-coverts, is covered with dense and irregular reddish-brown spots on a dark ocher-yellow or dark orange-yellow background. The reddish-brown markings are predominant on the distal part of the feathers and show a central light yellow-brown subterminal spot or a short stroke. The central markings on the top of the head are white. The neck and overcoat, wing feathers and large elytra show the same color everywhere, but have a clearly banded pattern with a few dark spots on the light bands. The tail is ocher-sand colored with five reddish brown bands. The heart-shaped face veil is light pink-cinnamon with a reddish-brown border around the eyes. The entire face is surrounded by a ruff of dark yellow-orange feathers with black-brown tips. The underside feathers, including the under wing-coverts and cervical feathers, have white bases. The feathered areas are mostly quite light ocher yellow with some subterminal reddish brown spots. The axillary feathers are banded more reddish brown. The iris is very dark brown. The beak is brightly horn-colored. The feet are dark pink. The claws are light gray. The seram owl differs from the similar Tanimbar barn owl ( Tyto sororcula ) by an ocher yellow instead of a white or whitish underside. The area from the top of the head to the upper back has short white or yellow-brown shaft stripes. The middle and lower back areas are darker in color. The banding of the flight feathers and especially the tail feathers is cleaner. The bandages either have no or only traces of dark or light spots. The legs are longer and fully feathered. No information is available on the juvenile birds.
Habitat and way of life
The type specimen was caught in a damp, moss-covered highland forest at an altitude of 1350 m. The forest is characterized by the beech family (dominant taxa: Castanopsis buruana and Lithocarpus ), myrtle family (dominant genus: Syzygium ), holm family , tree ferns , rattan palms , bamboo , non-woody climbing plants, epiphytes and mosses . It is believed that the seram owl occurs in low densities in both the lowlands and the highlands. Nothing is known about their way of life.
status
The Serameule has been in the IUCN's “ data deficient ” category since 2014 . Only two records are known. A photograph of a barn owl discovered in 1987 that was previously mistakenly mistaken for a Tanimbar barn owl and the type specimen of Tytus almae from 2012. During the four-week field work on Seram between January and February 2012, no other barn owl species were discovered, so the distribution area of the Tanimbar Barn Owl is restricted to the islands of Buru and Tanimbar . The forest is still reasonably intact on Seram. Large clearings are only found in the human-populated regions along the coast and in the west of the island. Manusela National Park covers about 10 percent of Seram and is likely to be important for long-term survival of this species. The limited information available makes it difficult to assess the vulnerability status, but forest degradation could become the main potential threat in the future. Extensive research is necessary to find out the most important details about occurrence, endangerment status, habitat and other ecological requirements.
literature
- Knud Andreas Jønsson, Michael Køie Poulsen, Tri Haryoko, Andrew Hart Reeve and Pierre-Henri Fabre: A new species of masked-owl (Aves: Strigiformes: Tytonidae) from Seram, Indonesia . In: Zootaxa . 3635, No. 1, 2013, pp. 51-61. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.3635.1.5 .