Omani owl discovered in 2013 not an original species show new findings
Date
8/30/2015 3:03:52 AM
(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-
The cryptic owl discovered by Britishornithologist Magnus Robb in JebelAkhdarin 2013 using only sound recordings and photographs has now been confirmed as a full species after DNA testing.
It has also been found that the species' range extends to Iran after a bird trapped in Mashhad in January 2015 turned out to be of the same species which represents the first record north of the Persian Gulf since 1878.
A DNA analysis of Omani owl by Robb and his colleagues at The Sound Approach a British company that is devoted to turning bird watchers into listeners shows that the named Strix omanensis is not an original species. It actually represents the rediscovery of Strix butleri which was known from a single specimen in The Natural History Museum (Tring England) said to be from Pakistan and collected 135 years earlier. 'Yes it turns out that the owl named in 1878 as Strix butleri is the same species as the population of owls discovered by Magnus Robb in Oman in early 2013' George Sangster told Muscat Daily.
Sangster is co-author of the latest paper The rediscovery of Strix butleri (Hume 1878) in Oman and Iran.
During a trip to Jebel Akhdar for recording bird calls in 2013 Robb heard an unfamiliar hoot something completely different. 'I know the other Arabian owl's sounds quite well and this was clearly something that didn't fit. I had a good inkling straight away that this could be something new' Robb had said at the time of the discovery.
That such a large birdit is around the size of a barn owlhad evaded discovery for so long was extraordinary but its description and naming using only sound recordings and photographs was both radical and controversial said The Sound Approach in a statement. To clarify the taxonomic identity Robb and his team needed to use DNA sequences of S. omanensis for which they wanted to capture a live bird.
Robb and Alyn Walsh finally caught an Omani owl in Jebel Akhdar using a 20x4m mist net on March 2 this year. In order to attract an owl they used playback of several CD tracks from Robb & The Sound Approach (2015) and a decoy owl perched on a prominent acacia halfway along the net. After catching the owl they took measurements feathers blood samples photographs and a sound recording.
Sangster said that the finding in Mashhad is very significant because it represents a range extension of 1300km from the nearest known record (the old 1878 specimen from southern Pakistan). 'It represents the only recent record outside the Arabian peninsula. We are excited about this record because it shows that there must exist a population of these owls in northeast Iran (and likely elsewhere in the region).'
An Omani owl was also discovered in UAE in the mountains of Wadi Wurayah on March 8 this year. 'Yes we are aware of this record. Robb is delighted that his discovery in 2013 has led to a great increase in knowledge. Indeed more has been learnt about Omani owl during the last two-three years than in the 130 years preceding it. We hope this continues to snowball and leads to further discoveries.