: ‘Cave Dwelling’ Masked Owl

A Masked Owl found roosting in a cave in coastal cliffs at Twilight Cove was banded by the late Peter Congreve (the then Warden of Eyre Bird Observatory) and myself in 1983 or 1984 (can’t remember when exactly). Twilight Cove is about 20 km west of the Eyre Bird Observatory, and is on the coastal edge of mallee woodland that extends about 11 km inland before transforming into the treeless Hampton Tableland. Twilight Cove is not far from the Nullarbor caves where Stephen Davies observed his Masked Owl, but it was interesting that the owl at Twilight Cove was roosting in a cave rather than in the nearby mallee woodland. I’m sure that record would be easily obtainable from the Eyre Bird Observatory on request. Stephen Ambrose Ryde NSW —–Original Message—– From: birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Shirley Cook Sent: Thursday, 15 August 2013 6:10 PM To: Messages Birding-aus Subject: [Birding-Aus] Fw: Fw: ‘Cave Dwelling’ Masked Owl A comment from Stephen Debus Regards Shirley Cook —– Original Message —– From: Stephen Debus To: Shirley Cook Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 5:03 PM Subject: Re: Fw: [Birding-Aus] ‘Cave Dwelling’ Masked Owl Hi Shirley, I thought this was dealt with in previous exchanges, but there is (was?) a rare cave-dwelling population of the Masked Owl on the Nullarbor Plain that may still be extant. This was based on museum specimens and verified photographs of undoubted Masked Owls, and a sighting in Atlas 1 by Stephen Davies himself (no less). Alleged subspecies troughtoni (Nullarbor ‘Cave Owl’) is now considered invalid, but the taxonomic status of the Masked Owl population in south-west WA needs assessment. The matter has been clouded in the past by cave-dwelling Barn Owls on the Nullarbor also being called ‘Cave Owls’. Cheers, Steve =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================