Hello Quentin,
I'm very interested in your Star Finch sighting. Would you have the exact
details? What age were the birds you saw? Do you have a GPS location for the
site? I've just completed a paper on the distribution of the Star Finch. The
status of the Star Finch in the northern third of the NT is very unclear. It
doesn't seem as though they were ever seen regularly in the northern third
of the NT. For example, John McKean only saw them once, and that was right
near Darwin, possibly escapes. Populations are known from the Victoria River
and west and then a population in the Macarthur River. Outside these areas
sightings are very scattered and rare. I would urge people to take very
careful note of any Star Finch sightings elsewhere in the NT. Forget the
field guides, the status of the Star in the northern third of the NT is far
from clear. Until a regular location can be found for them in the area, I
suspect that most sightings are vagrants, escapes or misidentifications.
As for the Masked Owl- they can be pretty hard to ID in northern Australia I
think. I had believed that I was seeing Masked Owls in Lakefield NP. I'm
still not 100% sure whether I saw Maskeds in Lakefield after seeing a lot of
Tytos and photographing quite a few. The problem is that the Maskeds on Cape
York are markedly smaller than Maskeds elsewhere including the NT. A
specimen that is in the Australian Museum from the Alligator River, NT,
collected by Cayley in the 1930's is quite big, certainly clearly bigger
than a Barn Owl and with well feathered legs. If this bird is typical I
suspect that the Masked Owls from NT to WA would like quite different to the
Masked Owls on Cape York, based on measurements provided in a paper by Ian
Mason in the 1970's.Measurements in this paper make it closer to Barn Owl in
size than the Masked Owl, but specimens are few, and sightings even less.
"Key features were: a
conspicuous thick black edge to a roundish (not heart-shaped)
facial disc. Very large eyes, that looked even larger due to dark
feathering around them. Fairly heavy spotting on side of neck and
underside".
If some of the odd Tytos that I saw in Lakefield were Barns then I have seen
all these features in Barns up there. I have shown some of these photos to
more experienced owl watchers than myself and they've been confused.
Unfortunately there is very little known about this bird. I have heard owls
in lakefield that sounded like Maskeds and I have seen and photographed some
very strange looking and behaving Tyto owls but without detailed knowledge
of what Cape York Maskeds look like I ended up backing down from my initial
identification. I remain undecided.
I would suggest that most of the features you saw could be in a Barn Owl,
and that Maskeds in the north, particularly on Cape York, could have bare
legs. However, if the Tyto you saw definitely had feathered legs well then
it would have to be a Masked, as I doesn't seem as though Barns can vary in
this feature.
Anyway, well done! I would urge you to try and find the owl again. Is there
any chance of getting photos?
Others might have more idea about Maskeds elsewherein the north. Niven have
you come across Maskeds up in the north?
Confused Owler?
Mick Todd
Michael Todd
Tropical Savannas CRC
c/o CSIRO
PO Box 780, Atherton, Qld, 4883
Phone- (07) 40918837
Email-
-----Original Message-----
From:
Behalf Of Quentin
Paynter
Sent: Monday, 6 November 2000 10:50 AM
To:
Subject: Oriental Pratincole and other recent sightings
I was just south of the Finniss River on Wagait Aboriginal Land
(about 2 hrs drive south-west of Darwin, NT and about 40 mins west
of Wangi Falls, Litchfield Park) last Friday and spotted a large flock
of Oriental Pratincoles. A lifer for me, although goodness knows how
many I've overlooked in the previous two years!
I go to this area quite frequently because the landowners are
conducting a very successful campaign against the invasive weed
Mimosa pigra, which I am studying. The general area around the
study site consists of wetlands infested with mimosa thickets,
reclaimed wetlands, a big billabong (with crocs) and
riverside/Melaleuca forest. It is becoming quite a haven for birds - I
saw a pair of Star finches here a couple of weeks ago - apparently
they don't get seen close to Darwin as often as they used to.
Perhaps the most exciting recent find was a potential Masked owl
(sighting being considered by the NT vetting committee). When I
arrived at the camp I flushed a Tyto owl from a tree, which flew a
short distance to a large fig tree. Knowing how hard they can be to
identify I made copious notes. I didn't think it was a barn owl - I've
seen plenty of them in the past. However, it was definately not a
grass owl - legs did not extend beyond tail in flight, wasn't dark
enough above, didn't have the 'long face & beady eye' look.
HANZAB proved very helpful. According to HANZAB the northern
race of Masked owl 'kimberli' is small and pale. Indeed it was similar
to a barn owl - it didn't look all that massive compared to most
pictures of masked owl in field guides. Key features were: a
conspicuous thick black edge to a roundish (not heart-shaped)
facial disc. Very large eyes, that looked even larger due to dark
feathering around them. Fairly heavy spotting on side of neck and
underside. Legs feathered all the way down and massive feet that
looked like boxing gloves in flight!
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has experience with this
race of Masked owl. Regarless of whether this record is accepted
I'd encourage anyone to take a closer look at any barn owls in this
part of the world!
Quentin
Dr Quentin Paynter
CSIRO Entomology, Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre
PMB 44 Winnellie NT 0822
Australia
PH (61)(0)8 8944 8420
FAX (61)(0)8 8944 8444
E-mail
http://www.dar.dwe.csiro.au/
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