Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 142, October 2016, pp. 1-13. | Page 3

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Desert Tawny Owl (Strix hadorami) in the Jerusalem (Judean) Desert of Palestine. Image credit:
© Thomas Krumenacker, www.krumenacker.de & http://www.sci-news.com/biology/sciencedesert-tawny-owl-strix-hadorami-new-species-bird-02432.html

Kirwan, researcher José Luis Copete and Dr. Manuel Schweizer from the Natural
History Museum of Bern in Switzerland analysed the descriptions of the Omani
owl, and while they have no specimen to examine, they believe that the Omani
owl is very likely the same as the 130-year-old specimen in Tring (Russon, 2015).
If they are correct, then this would mean that Hume's owl possibly didn't come
from Pakistan at all. "There has always been a lot of doubt about where this
specimen had come from. People were doubtful about it, as no one ever found
the Hume's owl specimen in Pakistan ever again," said Kirwan (Russon, 2015).
There has also been a new development – Iranian ornithologists have revealed on
Facebook that they have succeeded in photographing a Hume's owl in eastern
Iran, which shares the exact same plumage characteristics as the Oman owl.
"That bird appears to be identical to two or three central characteristics found in
the owl that occurs in Oman or in the type specimen, so this proves that the birds
on either side of the Persian Gulf are likely to be the same bird," said Kirwan
(Russon, 2015).
Next, ornithologists will need to compare vocal recordings from the owl in Iran,
to see if its birdsong matches that of the desert tawny owl in Palestine, or
whether the birdsong matches the vocal recording of the Omani owl (Russon,
2015).
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 142 – October 2016