Recently, the new classification of the Lesser Sooty Owl as shared species with the Sooty Owl has raised doubts and concerns with some birders...
I thought I'd raise this topic here to see what everyone thought of it.
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Please clarify your term 'shared species'.
I use the BARC IOC Checklist and the current version is v2014Jan. (I have downloaded this version but not yet updated my list) This list has Sooty Owl and Lesser Sooty Owl as separate species. I believe that this change occurred in 2012-13.
There used to be 1 species Sooty Owl with Tyto tenebricosa as the nominate race and Lesser Sooty Owl Tyto multipunctata as another race. This is reflected in Pizzey & Knight 2012 9th edition though there is a note 'were until recently considered separate species'.
Appears to be a case of 'out' and then 'in' and now 'out' again.
Peter
I look at those books and see drawings that bear very little resmblance to the birds I see. I saw an owl at night while camping and watched it and spoke to it for 10 minutes or so. I looked at all the books and articles I could find online and still didn't find an exact match. The closest I saw was a sooty owl but the size was smaller than described and the images of the lesser Sooty didn't look right. I found it all a bit unclear and maybe there needs to better study. Sorry I can't clear the air at all.
Christidis and Boles (2008) appears to treat them as different species, but the copy I have seems to have a bit of ambiguity. However, Steve Debus' recent field guide to Australian owls considers the Lesser being the subspecies of the Greater Sooty Owl.
Greater Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa)
Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa multipunctata)
IOC treats them as separate species. Go figure. One would think there'd be enough DNA work to conclude one way or another. At least the silly twitchers can be happy to tick two species off a list. I never get this ticking rubbish. How can it be enjoyable to race around looking for birds then just ticking them and moving on? It defies sense.
Would it be akin to collecting stamps, footballer cards or rocks, Canonguy? Each to his/her own, I suppose, as long as no animals or their habitat are harmed in the making of the collection.
Yeah, true Adrian. But that is why I never share my bird locations with most people, as some care more about taking photos or just ticking them than to actually enjoy them in their habitat. I have already made a big mistake six years ago when I shared a Square-tailed Kite nest with a well known photographer who has shown (I reckon) half of Sydney's bird photographers. While I cannot be certain, I feel the pressure put on by too many people coming and going may have contributed to the kites moving nest sites the second season following that year. The birds matter more to me than getting the photos, so I will stay silent. :)
Over-population by humans of natural habitats always has disastrous effects, I guess. Quiet flows the Don & quiet keeps the birds.
I believe they are known as super-species... it is a taxonomic rank used for a group of at least two distinctive but closely related species, but are able to inter-breed due to similarities in DNA. Canonguy, the use of DNA for speciation is what causes a lot of concerns, I think. Using that method for speciation is really unreliable and inacurate, IMHO.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
I am not from a scientific background so I am happy for the scientists to go the knuckle.
On the other hand, I do remember from high school that if two animals can interbreed and produce fertile offspring then they are the same species. eg humans, that have many races...
So if the two sooties could do the same, that fact could easily be ascertained. There should be plenty of Sooty Owls of both races/species together in captivity so it baffles me that this has not been tried yet. Though I cannot be sure if it has or hasn't.
By that logic Pacific Black Duck and a Mallard are the same species. In fact mallards can cross with dozens of species of duck often with fertile results.
http://10000birds.com/hybrid-mallards.htm
Many pheasant crosses produce viable offspring.
Black-eared miner and yellow throated miners have also produced viable hybrid swarms.
I also heard [crimon rosella x eastern] x eastern.
Also supposed reports on the theme of wild Rainbow lorikeet x scaly breasted x musk lorikeet and some purple crowned and little in the mix too, possibly even 4 species in one bird.
Incredibly, this indicates a hybrid between two species (even intergeneric in the case of musk/purple-crownedxrainbow/scaly) can seemingly be fertile.
http://www.peterfuller.com.au/birds/essays/lorikeets/lorikeets.html
http://jenniferspryausbirding.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/a-mess-of-lorikeets-3rd-june.html
DNA testing for speciation is a lot more accurate than traditional taxonomic techniques.