Spot-bellied Eagle Owl or Forest Eagle Owl Bubo nipalensis
Interesting record of a
large owl Spot-bellied Eagle Owl Bubo
nipalensis found dead in campus of Mr. K. C. Pradhan at 6th Mile, Gangtok
on 21 Jan'12. Could be case of poisoning; the bird might have eaten a poisoned
rat or something. Specimen with Forest staff for post-mortem. Do confirm if this is what is
locally called KOIRALO in Nepali, and what the other local names are. You can hear it
around Himalayan Zoological Park and Raj Bhavan, but this is the first close view of an uncommon
bird. Good record by Pradhan Sir. Same
individual front and back views. Local people say “Koiralo ley Biralo khaancha”,
but we have yet to get proof. Salim Ali calls this 'Huhu' in Nepali; Any Lepcha
names?
Chewang Rinchen Bonpo
comments that this is a rare owl he saw only once in Kaziranga National Park , Assam
Dear All, Dr. Asad Rahmani has passed on some information which will be useful for new birders and others:
ReplyDeleteDear All
Please use the term 'endangered' with care. According to IUCN and BirdLife terminology, 'endangered' is a subcategory of 'Threatened'. The following are the Threatened categories:
Extinct
Extinct in the Wild
Critically Endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
Data Deficient
Another subset is Near Threatened and Least Concern.
Many of us use the term 'endangered' when we want to say 'threatened' or 'rare'. A threatened bird could be CR or VU, may not be EN.
Interestingly the MoEF uses a term RET (Rare, Endangered and Threatened). I have asked them what is the difference between the three but no one is able to explain to me. While, IUCN and BirdLife have definition of all these terms, and as soon as you say, a taxon is endangered or vulnerable, we know what is its status.
Let IBCN members use the terms properly.
Another term that is often not properly used is 'endemic'. Endemic means restricted to a particular area (or not widespread). But, endemic always has a spatial context. For example, a bird can be endemic to Andaman, or Western Ghats, or India or even Indian subcontinent. But we cannot say that it is endemic to Asia, or African. In that case, we say it is found in Asia or Africa.
Recently, I got a calender of "Endemic birds of .....University Campus" (name withheld to hide the identity). I had to write to the VC that well, your calender is very nice but the terminology used was wrong. He did not like it. He thought that he has been creative. If we take his point, then I am 'endemic' to Hornbill House of BNHS! Am I also 'Endangered' or Threatened?
You decide.
Asad Rahmani