![]() Because the bird has never been captured, researchers haven’t been able to conduct long-term observational studies or collect blood samples for genetic analysis. Even if scientists knew where to look, the owl’s nocturnal tendencies likely make the animal even harder to spot. Researchers are not sure where the bird’s core habitat is, leaving them with little knowledge of where the owl could be found. And then, immediately, a lot of anxiety again.”īoyce suspects the Bornean Rajah scops owl hasn’t been seen in so long because population density is low. Just huge excitement, and a little bit of disbelief, when I first saw the bird and realized what it was. There was nervousness and anticipation as I was trying to get there, hoping the bird would still be there. “It was a really rapid progression of emotion. “If we didn't document it right then and there, this bird could disappear again for who knows how long,” says Boyce. Boyce rushed down a trail to where the owl perched, knowing he was on borrowed time. While Boyce was not actively looking for the owl during his research, he immediately thought of Otus brookii brookii after reading the message. “It’s a stroke of luck it came back to that exact spot.” ![]() While he was observing the owl, it flew away, but returned to perch in the shadowed area shortly after. “Out of this dark corner where there was a lot of vegetation, this owl flew out and it landed, ” says Tranquillo. Tranquillo first spotted the bird, and quickly alerted Boyce about an odd-looking owl with orange eyes. In collaboration with local residents, Sabah Park officials and several individuals from indigenous communities, like the Dusun, the rediscovery took place during a 10-year study of avian evolution in the forests of Mount Kinabalu.īoyce was safely capturing and measuring songbirds when he received a text message from Keegan Tranquillo, who is now a field biologist at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. at the time with the University of Montana, researching how different bird species behave across various elevations. In May 2016, Andy Boyce, an ecologist with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, carefully observed and photographed the owl in Sabah, Malaysia. Now, for the first time in more than 125 years, researchers have documented the Rajah scops owl in a study published last month in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology. But Otus brookii brookii, a Bornean subspecies of the Rajah scops owl, hasn’t been observed by scientists since 1892, and its song is unknown, making it that much harder to find. An easy way to find and identify a bird species is to listen for their unique calls.
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