Owls (1 Viewer)

[Melanie]

What is the etymology of the scientific name?

 

[Xenospiza]

What is the etymology of the scientific name?

I'll copy what is in the article: it is the nickname of the guide who reported it first.

But what I (also) miss is what "Bikegila" means!

"The species name is a patronym honouring Ceciliano do Bom Jesus, known as ‘Bikegila’ (Suppl. material 5). The species epithet name is intentionally defined as an invariable noun in apposition (not a noun in the genitive case) for better pronunciation; no confusion with the species authority is possible because the noun is an oral nickname.

Bikegila, a native of Príncipe Island, began the ‘Príncipe Scops-Owl saga’ in 1998, when he shared with MM reports of two sightings of birds that looked like owls in parrot nests. Since then, Bikegila took part in every field effort that led to the bird’s discovery for science; he also led the capture of all sampled individuals, including the holotype, which required ingenious ways to erect canopy nets. For almost 25 years, Bikegila has put all his resources, including bottomless fieldwork skills and a vast knowledge of Príncipe, towards the successful completion of innumerable research projects in a terrain that the collector José Correia considered to be the “bad among the bad or the worse among the worse” [sic] (Diary, 2 September 1928, Archives AMNH, New York). Besides his skills, Bikegila’s “cheerful temperament, possibly the first requirement for an undertaking in inhospitable regions” (von Humboldt 1841), coupled with an unbeatable gift for story-telling and an underlying quiet wisdom, contributes as much to making the expeditions he leads memorable and successful. A former parrot harvester, Bikegila became a warden of Príncipe Obô Natural Park soon after its creation; he is now a much sought-after nature guide."

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

What is the etymology of the scientific name?

I'll copy what is in the article: it is the nickname of the guide who reported it first.
...

As did I, but in the Bird Name Etymology sub-forum (at least parts of it, though also the Photo-by-line), here.

 

[James Jobling]

I added bikejila and its etymology to The Key yesterday (after reading George Sangster's post).

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

I added bikejila and its etymology to The Key yesterday (after reading George Sangster's post).

James, I hope you didn't.

Simply as it ought to be bikegila.

But that would certainly explain why I couldn't find it in the Key yesterday
(before I posted my piece in the Bird Name Etymology subforum, that is).

 

[James Jobling]

Bjorn
You spotted my deliberate mistake (just to make sure you were all awake, or was it a more senior moment on my part?); I did insert bikegila properly in The Key the day before yesterday.
All serenity
James

 

[Markus Lagerqvist]

Genomic basis of insularity and ecological divergence in barn owls (Tyto alba) of the Canary Islands​

Tristan Cumer, Ana Paula Machado, Felipe Siverio, Sidi Imad Cherkaoui, Inês Roque, Rui Lourenço, Motti Charter, Alexandre Roulin & Jérôme Goudet
Heredity volume 129, pages281–294 (2022)

Abstract​

Islands, and the particular organisms that populate them, have long fascinated biologists. Due to their isolation, islands offer unique opportunities to study the effect of neutral and adaptive mechanisms in determining genomic and phenotypical divergence. In the Canary Islands, an archipelago rich in endemics, the barn owl (Tyto alba), present in all the islands, is thought to have diverged into a subspecies (T. a. gracilirostris) on the eastern ones, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Taking advantage of 40 whole-genomes and modern population genomics tools, we provide the first look at the origin and genetic makeup of barn owls of this archipelago. We show that the Canaries hold diverse, long-standing and monophyletic populations with a neat distinction of gene pools from the different islands. Using a new method, less sensitive to structure than classical FST, to detect regions involved in local adaptation to insular environments, we identified a haplotype-like region likely under selection in all Canaries individuals and genes in this region suggest morphological adaptations to insularity. In the eastern islands, where the subspecies is present, genomic traces of selection pinpoint signs of adapted body proportions and blood pressure, consistent with the smaller size of this population living in a hot arid climate. In turn, genomic regions under selection in the western barn owls from Tenerife showed an enrichment in genes linked to hypoxia, a potential response to inhabiting a small island with a marked altitudinal gradient. Our results illustrate the interplay of neutral and adaptive forces in shaping divergence and early onset speciation.

Genomic basis of insularity and ecological divergence in barn owls (Tyto alba) of the Canary Islands - Heredity

Islands, and the particular organisms that populate them, have long fascinated biologists. Due to their isolation, islands offer unique opportunities to study the effect of neutral and adaptive mechanisms in determining genomic and phenotypical divergence. In the Canary Islands, an archipelago...

www.nature.com

 

[Melanie]

Here is a new article from National Geographic where they state that the name Bikegila has no particular origin.

New owl species found—and it has a haunting screech

Living only in the old-growth forests of Príncipe Island, the tiny bird is likely already critically endangered, experts say.

www.nationalgeographic.com

 

[Daniel Philippe]

Vande weghe G.R., Vande weghe J.-P., Devillers P. & Devillers-Terschuren J., 2021. An observation of Grauer’s Long-eared Owl, Asio graueri, in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda. Nat. belges 102 (2): 1-24.

Volume102 – LES NATURALISTES BELGES

naturalistesbelges.be

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Vande weghe G.R., Vande weghe J.-P., Devillers P. & Devillers-Terschuren J., 2021. An observation of Grauer’s Long-eared Owl, Asio graueri, in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda. Nat. belges 102 (2): 1-24.

Volume102 – LES NATURALISTES BELGES

naturalistesbelges.be

Asio graueri ? Really ?

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Proposal (937) to SACC

Species limits within the Megascops watsonii complex

DID NOT PASS

 

[albertonykus]

Gousy-Leblanc, M., J.-F. Therrien, T. Broquet, D. Rioux, N. Curt-Grand-Gaudin, N. Tissot, S. Tissot, I. Szabo, L. Wilson, J.T. Evans, V. Bowes, G. Gauthier, K.L. Wiebe, G. Yannic, and N. Lecomte (2023)
Long-term population decline of a genetically homogenous continental-wide top Arctic predator
Ibis (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1111/ibi.13199

Genetic analysis can provide valuable information for conservation programs by unraveling the demographic trajectory of populations, by estimating effective population size, or by inferring genetic differentiation between populations. Here, we investigated the genetic differentiation within the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) in North America, a species identified as vulnerable by the IUCN, to (i) quantify connectivity among wintering areas, (ii) evaluate current genetic diversity and effective population size and (iii) infer changes in the historical effective population size changes from the last millennia to the recent past. The Snowy Owl, a highly mobile top predator, breeds across the Arctic tundra which is a region especially sensitive to current climate change. Using SNP-based analyses on Snowy Owls sampled across the North American nonbreeding range, we found an absence of genetic differentiation among individuals located up to 4,650 km apart. Our results suggest high genetic intermixing and effective dispersal at the continental scale despite documented philopatry to nonbreeding sites in winter. Reconstructing the population demographic indicated that North American Snowy Owls have been steadily declining since the Last Glacial Maximum ca 20,000 years ago and concurrently with global increases in temperature. Conservation programs should now consider North American Snowy Owls as a single, genetically homogenous continental-wide population which is most likely sensitive to the long-term global warming occurring since the Last Glacial Maximum.

 

[albertonykus]

Fishpool, L.D.C. (2023)
The distribution, specimens and status of Chestnut Owlet Glaucidium (capense) castaneum and Albertine Owlet G. (c.) albertinum
Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 143: 85–110
doi: 10.25226/bboc.v143i1.2023.a6

Chestnut Owlet Glaucidium (capense) castaneum and Albertine Owlet G. (c.) albertinum are poorly known members of the African Barred Owlet Glaucidium capense complex, confined to the Albertine Rift of East Africa. Recent taxonomic treatments have seen them variously considered as subspecies of capense, as separate monotypic species or, in the case of castaneum, a polytypic species. A paucity of museum material and field knowledge of each, combined with oversight and misinterpretation of some primary literature, has contributed to this uncertainty. This study reassesses their status and corrects numerous errors, misunderstandings and contradictions concerning specimen material, distribution, morphology and voice. Only four specimens of castaneum are known, there are no documented observations of the bird in life and no acoustic recordings. There are seven specimens of albertinum in collections. No field sightings have ever been documented but several recordings attributed to albertinum exist. Despite its close similarity to the voice of capense, there is no published evidence that albertinum reacts to playback, unlike the remaining taxa of the complex. I conclude that castaneum is a modestly distinct subspecies of capense. In contrast, albertinum, which differs conspicuously from the others in the complex by its disproportionately short tail, and which may be parapatric with castaneum, merits treatment as a species.

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Proposal (977) to SACC

Treat Megascops atricapilla as conspecific with M. watsonii

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

What is the argument that justifies recognizing Ketupa as distinct from Bubo, but not Ciccaba from Strix?

 

[TomDerutter]

In my opinion, Ketupa is still overlumped, there are some very different birds in there

A split between Ciccaba & Strix should be between the old world & new world groups... which seem rather alike?

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

In my opinion, Ketupa is still overlumped, there are some very different birds in there

A split between Ciccaba & Strix should be between the old world & new world groups... which seem rather alike?

The intruder is Bubo philippensis, especially since it is the phylogenetic unknown.

We know that resemblance is not a valid argument either

 

[TomDerutter]

These are now all included in Ketupa, which seems wrong:
African Eagle Owls (Nyctaetus): lacteus, shelleyi, leucosticta & poensi
South Asian Eagle Owls (Ptiloskelos): nipalensis, sumatrana
Fishing Owls (true Ketupa) - unknown if coromandus & philippensis belong here

Also, Scotopelia is probably embedded if you lump all these

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

- unknown if coromandus & philippensis belong here

Also, Scotopelia is probably embedded if you lump all these

This is why I put all in Bubo. Sometimes I don't understand decisions made by IOC or BOW.

 

[TomDerutter]

But Bubo as defined now is very unlikely to be wrong.
There's at most 8 species in Ketupa that might change genus when new studies come out.
If you lump everything in Bubo now, you need to change 15 species later...