Megascops nudipes ssp. newtoni (Virgin Islands Screech Owl)

[Melly]

The Virgin Islands Screech Owl (Otus nudipes newtoni) is a subspecies of the Puerto Rican Screech Owl (Otus nudipes). It was listed in Appendix II of the Endandered Species Act in 1975 but it was downlisted after it became extinct at the beginning of the eightees.

The screech owl was first classified in 1800 by Francois Marie Daudin a French naturalist. It lives in dense woodland, caves and thickets. The voice or call of the owl gave way to it being called a cuckoo bird in the Virgin Islands. It was last reported to have been seen in 1980 and in some references is listed as extinct. The demise of the Virgin Islands Screech owl is due largely too deforestation.

Here is an interesting article:
elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v069n04/p0557-p0562.pdf

EDIT PETER: new link: sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v069n04/p0557-p0562.pdf

[another specialist]

Virgin Islands screech owl
Otus nudipes newtoni

The Virgin Islands screech owl (Otus nudipes newtoni) historically occurred on several small
islands immediately east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. It was last seen in 1980 despite a
three-week survey of St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas in 1995 [211]. These islands contain
the largest remaining patches of suitable habitat.

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Abstract.--The Virgin Islands Screech-Owl Otus nudipes newtoni is a little-studied taxon whose
current status is uncertain. It historically occurred on several small islands immediately east
of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. In an effort to assess its current status, I carried out surveys
on St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas, the three largest of the United States Virgin Islands.
Acoustic and visual surveys were carried out nightly for a 3-wk period during August 1995.
Playback recordings of owl calls from the Puerto Rico subspecies did not elicit any responses
during surveys, nor did I see any owls. I conclude that this taxon is extinct, because the three
sampled islands contained the largest remaining patches of appropriate habitat for this species.
ESTATUS DE OTUS NUDIPES NEWTONI
Sinopsis.--E1 Mficaro Pequefio de las Islas Virgenes Otus nudipes newtoni es una especie poco
estudiada cuyo estatus actual es incierto. Hist6ricamente ocurri6 en varias islas pequefias
imnediatamente al este de Puerto Rico en el Caribe. En un esfuerzo para evaluar su estatus
actual, realiz• estudios en St. John, St. Croix y St. Thomas, las cuales son las m/rs grandes de
las Islas Virgenes Estadounidenses. Llev• a cabo censos visuales y acfisticos nocturnos por
tres semanas durante agosto de 1995. No pude lograr respuestas usando una grabaci6n del
canto de la subespecie de Puerto Rico, ni observe individuos. Concluyo que esta subespecie
estgt extinta, porque las tres islas muestreadas contienen las parcelas m•s grandes de hgtbitat
apropiado.
The Puerto Rican Screech-Owl Otus nudipes is endemic to the Puerto
Rico region (defined to include Mona, Monito, Puerto Rico, Culebra,
Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands), although related genera
and species occur on other Greater Antillean islands and Central America
(Bond 1980, Burton 1992). Two subspecies are recognized, O. n. nudipes
from Puerto Rico proper and O. n. newtoni from Vieques, Culebra, St.
John, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, St. Croix and Guana Island (American Ornithologists'
Union 1983, Raffaele 1989, Sibley and Monroe 1990). O. n.
newtoni was named in 1860 from skins collected on St. Croix (Lawrence
1878). These birds were purportedly duller, grayer, and less rufescent
above than Puerto Rican specimens (Wetmore 1927). Howard and Moore
(1991) list a third subspecies, A. n. krugii, from the Lesser Antilles, but
the taxon is not generally recognized. Indeed, Lawrence (1878) synonymized
Gymnoglaux (=Otus) krugii with O. nudipes over 100 years ago.
Although O. n. nudipes is still common on Puerto Rico, particularly in
the forested interior mountains and northwestern. karst region (Biaggi
1983, Wiley 1986, Raffaele 1989, Rivera-Milan 1995, Pardiek et al. 1996),
O. n. newtoni is rare in its historical range or may be extinct (Raffaele
557
558] J.A. Moreno J. Field Ornithol.
Autumn 1998
1989). Based on the amount of habitat available on different islands within
the historical range and recent reports (see below), the probability of
encountering this species is greatest in the United States Virgin Islands.
I review the historical status of the Virgin Islands Screech-Owl and report
the results of a study to assess the current status of this taxon on the
islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.
HISTORICAL STATUS
Vieques.--The Virgin Islands Screech-Owl has been reported from Vieques,
where it is now thought to be extinct (Raffaele 1989). As far as I
have been able to ascertain, the Vieques record originated with a comment
by Wetmore (1927), who was informed that a resident had seen a
small owl several years earlier on the island. Based on this datum, it is
unlikely the owl has resided on Vieques in the immediate past; fossil data
are required to verify if it ever did. I searched Vieques for this species for
one week in June 1979 without success.
Culebra.--I was unable to find written remarks regarding the presence
of this species on Culebra. In over twenty research-related visits to this
island spanning 10 yr, I never saw nor heard this species. On two occasions
(1980 and 1986), I used playback recordings but never obtained a response.
St. Croix.--When described, A. n. newtoni was considered rare on St.
Croix, although a breeding population existed. E. Newton (in Newton
and Newton 1859) obtained young birds on 30 May 1857 and 1 Sep. 1858.
Adults were taken in early June 1857 and 11 May 1858. No additional
records are available until over a century later, when Leck (1975) wrote
of unverified sightings in western St. Croix and Nellis (1979) saw two
birds. Norton (1986) posits that the latter record pertains to Asiofiarnmeus.
St. John.--Riise (in Newton 1860) collected several birds from this island.
Norton (1981) reports a single owl sighting on St. John but suggests
that it may have been a vagrant O. n. nudipes or Asio fiammeus.
St. Thomas.--Eggs and skins were obtained from St. Thomas (Cassin
1860), although the taxon was considered rare (Knox 1852). No further
reports of owls from this island have appeared in the literature. Nellis
(1994, pers. comm.) informs me of recent unverified sightings by residents,
however.
Guana Island.--S. Lazzell (1993, pers. comm.) reported owl pellets
from this island. No confirmed sightings have been recorded, however.
Tortola and Virgin Gorda.•Although reported as part of the historical
distribution, I have been unable to verify records for these islands.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
I visited St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John during August 1995. Although
August does not coincide with the maximal calling period of O.
nudipes in Puerto Rico (Rivera-MilSn 1995; W. Arendt, pers. comm.), the
species calls throughout the year (pers. obs.; R. Perez, pers. comm.). I
Vol. 69, No. 4 Virgin Islands Screech-Owl [559
T^BLE 1. Island visited, dates visited, total km sampled, and number of points surveyed
during surveys for the Virgin Islands Screech-Owl.

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assumed that owls in the Virgin Islands would also call year-round. Although
I confirmed that Screech-Owls were calling in both Puerto Rican
dry and moist forests by telephoning colleagues on Puerto Rico on most
survey nights, the possibility exists that my search coincided with a period
of low calling activity in the Virgin Islands. However, my past experience
with owls on Puerto Rico suggests that individuals of this species will almost
always respond to taped calls if they are present.
On each island, I conducted surveys nightly between 1930 h and midnight
(Table 1). This is the time of maximal calling activity for the populations
on Puerto Rico (pers. obs.; C. Ruiz, pers. comm.). Surveys consisted
of point counts where assistants and I stopped at pre-determined
intervals (usually every 0.3 km, although if it was unsafe to stop at a
particular site we drove ahead until a suitable area was found) and listened
for owls. We drove between 17 and 33 km per hour to minimize
engine noise and increase our ability to detect calls between points
counts. At least one assistant aided every night, except on the night of
14 August when I conducted the survey alone. Assistants had prior experience
in owl sampling methods.
Two approaches were used to detect this species. Aural surveys involved
listening for calling owls at, and between, point stations. During playback
surveys, I attempted to elicit responses by playing a taped territorial call
from O. n. nudipes recorded on Puerto Rico. Playback recordings have
been used effectively to survey nocturnal bird species such as owls (Johnson
et al. 1981, Halterman et al. 1987, Bibby et al. 1993, Pardieck et al.
1996). The call was played continuously from a Sony stereo tape player
for 8-10 min at each point station. (De Geus and Bowles [1991] recommended
a sampling period of 10 min when surveying Eastern Screech-
Owls, Otus asio). Calls could be heard up to 0.4 km from the tape player.
My assistants and I were able to detect animal calls (e.g., dogs barking)
from as far away as 0.75 km at some sites.
Although I did not record cloud cover and wind speed at the different
sites, surveys were carried out during clear and calm conditions. However,
Pardiek et al. (1996) found no correlations between these variables and
calling activity of Otus nudipes on Puerto Rico.
I identified survey sites using three sources of information: areas identified
by Virgin Islands Division of Wildlife personnel, by the staff of the
U.S. Park Service on St. John and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel
560] J.A. Moreno J. Field Ornithol.
Autumn 1998
on St. Croix; records of past sightings from the literature and personal
communication with observers; and on-site evaluation of habitat. I qualitatively
assessed habitats as being suitable for the owl if they possessed the
following characteristics: large trees (native or introduced) with potential
to form cavities (e.g., mango, ceiba, large palms, etc.) and a relatively well
developed and moist understory. On Puerto Rico, sites with these characteristics
appear to harbor the most oMs (Biaggi 1983, Pardieck et al.
1996). O. nudipes is known to nest in cactus cavities in the Guanica Forest
of Puerto Rico (R. P•rez, pers. comm.), but this behavior was never reported
in the Virgin Islands. Although owls inhabit urban areas in Puerto
Rico, and may do so in the Virgin Islands, I would expect their numbers
to be low at these sites. However, to ensure thoroughness, I completed
aural surveys within the main towns every other night. I stopped adjacent
to randomly chosen wood lots and houses surrounded by dense vegetation
for ten minutes, but did not play owl calls. These data points are not
indicated in Table 1.
I interviewed local wildlife officials to assess whether they had seen or
heard owls in the immediate past.
RESULTS
Surveys.--No owls were detected in any locality on the three sampled
islands. I feel confident that all appropriate habitat was adequately surveyed
and that the probability of having missed a calling owl was small.
Interviews.--I interviewed and played the call of the owl to experienced
wildlife workers on each island. Not one individual had ever heard the
call while doing field work. All agreed they would have remembered this
unusual call if it had been heard.
After discussing D. Nellis's sightings of owls on St. Croix with him, we
concluded that the observation pertains to Asio fiammeus. The relatively
large size of the owls he saw, their behavior (flying up from a grassy field
to a stump and back to the ground) and the locality (a grassy field I
visited) are not consistent with O. nudipes.

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DISCUSSION
Although it is always difficult to state with certainty that a taxon is
extinct, the available data strongly suggesthe Virgin Islands Screech-Owl
is extinct on St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. Because the latter three
islands contain the largest remaining patches of appropriate habitat within
the historical range, the taxon is most likely globally extinct as well.
O. nudipes probably has not re-colonized these islands from Puerto Rico
for one of two reasons. First, O. nudipes does not appear to be as good a
disperser as the more widespread A. fiammeus (Burton 1992). For example,
while carrying out wildlife surveys in the small islands between
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, I have come across both breeding
pairs and single individuals of A. fiammeus, but never of O. nudipes. Alternatively,
O. nudipes may reach the Virgin Islands but, for unknown
reasons, cannot persist.
Vol. 69, No. 4 Vii'gin Islands Screech-Owl [561
The Virgin Islands Screech-Owl most likely succumbed to the destruction
of native forests in the latter part of the 19th century. Beginning in
earnest after 1750, over 90% of the forest cover on each island was cleared
for plantation crops, mostly sugar and cotton. This species requires oldgrowth
trees with cavities in which to nest. Today, between 6-7% of the
U.S. Virgin Islands are forested (Lugo et al. 1981).
The taxonomic status of O. n. newtoni is problematical, as the name
was assigned based on only slight plumage color differences (Lawrence
1878). W. Arendt (1997, pers. comm.) has banded several different colored
morphs of this species within a single forest in Puerto Rico, and I
have observed owls with newtoni coloration in southwestern Puerto Rico.
These observations suggesthe subspecific designation is not valid. If a
reavaluation of this species results in synonimizing the two taxa, efforts
may be initiated to study the feasibility of re-introducing the owl to the
Virgin Islands from Puerto Rico

elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v069n04/p0557-p0562.pdf

EDIT PETER: new link: sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v069n04/p0557-p0562.pdf

[sebbe67]

Picture from HBW5

[Melanie]

Thank you Sebbe, for publishing that picture. This is the very first time that i have the opportunity to see a pic of this species.

[another specialist]

A subspecies of the Puerto Rican Screech Owl of somewhat doubtful validity which occurred on several of the Virgin Islands, West Indies. The last reliable records are in 1860; it was not found in thorough surveys in 1995.

encyclopedia.vestigatio.com/Extinct_birds

[Melanie]

Scanned from Birds of North and Middle America Vol. VI by Robert Ridgway (1914)

[Peter]

According to the following references now known as Megascops nudipes newtoni (Lawrence, 1861):

• Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. (2014). The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9. Downloaded from www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
• del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. (2014). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International.
• Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird List (v 5.1). www.worldbirdnames.org/
• Lepage D. (2015). Avibase, the World Bird Database. Published online at avibase.bsc-eoc.org/

I will change the name of this thread.

[Sebbe]

Birds of Vieques Island, Puerto Rico: Status, Abundance, and Conservation

Puerto Rican Screech-Owl (Múcaro Cumún) ?/FO
Unconfirmed. Maynard’s 1898 Catalog of the Birds of the West Indies describes
the range of Puerto Rican Screech-Owl from Puerto Rico to
St. Thomas. The subspecies newtoni was named in 1860 from skins
collected on St. Croix and was endemic to the larger Virgin Islands
where it is now considered extinct (Dickinson and Ramsen Jr. 2013).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, this subspecies was reported
to Wetmore and Danforth as resident in wooded hills just
west of Punta Salinas, Vieques. No authenticated sight record, however,
exists. Bond (1956) questioned whether the subspecies newtoni
actually occurred in the hills west of Punta Salinas. If Puerto Rican
Screech-Owl did exist on Vieques, it probably disappeared when the
original forests with nesting sites were replaced with sugarcane and
agricultural fields and pasture for cattle (Wiley 1985b). During the
last thirty years, surveys on Vieques and the Virgin Islands using
recordings of Puerto Rican Screech-Owl elicited no response. No
sight records have been reported in the last hundred years (DDG;
Belitsky 1978a; Moreno 1998). By the mid-1930s Danforth (1935) reported
newtoni extinct. Raffaele (1977) considered it possibly extinct.
Moreno (1998) declared it extinct.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable (ABC), Stewardship List PR/VI
(PIF), and Protected (MBTA).

www.birdscaribbean.org/jco/index.php/jco/issue/current