Not every day you find a new species of bird, and certainly not every day you find a new species of bird, in a hundred year old collection!

 

Photo: Roni Livne

It turns out that the individual by which the species was described, Hume's Owl (Strix butleri), which is currently in the Tring Museum in England, differs morphologically and genetically from the individuals in our collection, and apparently from all the individuals in the known distribution area.

In an article by Guy Kirwan and his friends, which was published in the scientific journal ZOOTAXA, the authors explain the differences and tell about the one who discovered the difference as early as 1985 (the Israeli ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai) and finally propose to split the species into two species: the original individual represented the species by its original name, while the other individuals Will be called Strix hadorami, and in English Desert Hume's Owl.

In the photos: Desert Hume's Owl of the new-old species taken in Israel (courtesy of Roni Livne) and Guy Kirwan during his visit to the bird collection in the National Nature Collections, here he examined the details that Aharoni had collected.

For the article published in YNET - click here.