birding-aus re Ninox Owl

["Philip A Veerman" <>]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for inviting some expert opinion on your project. A good move. Goes down well with me at least.

Ninox is a genus, not a species. That is Ninox is a group of about 16 species of owls, mostly of the Australasian region, 4 of which occur in Australia. Cayley's book gives the etymology of Ninox as Ni unknown and nox = night. So it is not true that Ninox just means owl. Besides there are many other owl genera other than Ninox. The largest species of the Ninox genus is the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua). Please under no circumstances use the misspelling Ninox Strenua. Specific names are always in lower case and scientific names are always in italics. I agree that the picture appears to be of this species.

 

As for your statement "Project NINOX is named after the Ninox Owl - an aggressive Australian hunting owl."  The intent is commendable but the wording not really correct.

Ninox is not AN owl, it is a group (genus) of owls, so it is not quite right to say "the Ninox Owl", noone uses such a name.

It also includes a silly statement of the obvious, "hunting owl". All owls are hunters. It is like saying a Hereford is a grass-eating cow, as if other cows aren't. Unless of course "Australian hunting owl" is meant to mean an owl that hunts Australians. I'm not too sure that the Powerful Owl is more aggressive than say the Barking Owl (Ninox connivens) but that is not so important.

 

It would be correct to say: "Project NINOX is named after the Australian owl group exemplified here by its largest member, the Powerful Owl Ninox strenua."

 

I hope this helps.