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Otus insularis

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Aves
Subclassis: Carinatae
Infraclassis: Neornithes
Parvclassis: Neognathae
Ordo: Strigiformes
Familia: Strigidae
Subfamilia: Striginae
Genus: Otus
Species: Otus insularis

Name

Otus insularis (Tristram, 1880)

Reference

Ibis - the International Journal of Avian Science, published by the British Ornithologists' Union p.458

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Česky: Výreček ostrovní

The Seychelles scops-owl (Otus insularis), also known as Bare-legged Scops-owl or Syer (in Creole) is a rare scops owl species, which only occurs in the Morne Seychellois National Park on the Seychelles island of Mahé.

Description

It reaches a length between 19 and 22 cm. The wings are about 17 cm. Its plumage is rufous brown and exhibits black shaft streaks. The underparts and the facial disc are rufous. The long grey legs are unfeathered. The eyes are large and golden yellow. The ear tufts are very small. Its call which sounds like a rasping "whaugh" with various "tok tok" notes can be heard from a far distance and in particular in the darkness. Its diet consists of geckos, tree frogs and insects (e.g. locusts).

Status

The former range of this bird which was first described in 1880 were the Seychelles islands of Praslin, Mahé, and Silhouette Island. Due to the clearing of the mountainous cloud forests and introduced alien animals, like rats, cats, and barn owls the population had dropped so drastically that it was thought to be extinct by 1906. In 1959 it was rediscovered by French naturalist Phillipe Loustau-Lalanne in a mountainous cloud forest in 200 m asl on Mahé. In 1999 the first nest was discovered but there was no breeding success. In 2000 the first infrared photograph was shot from a female with her juvenile. Due to the lack of information about the population this species was long regarded as critically endangered by the IUCN. Due to the discovery of further populations it was noticed by 2002 that the population was stable at about 318 individuals. Today the range consists of 159 territories which cover an area of 33 km². Thanks to the new knowledge and the conservation efforts on Mahé this species was downlisted to endangered in 2004.

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