Watch out! This burrito bites back. Just a quick checkup for this Pueo (Hawaiian Owl) patient and back to the aviary she goes for quiet time.
I was trying to find what exactly makes the Pueo different from the normal Short Eared Owl, but haven’t come across that. The only interesting things I noticed was it’s scientific name is Asio flammeus sandwichensis, but I also haven’t found where the sandwich part comes from, and I learned about SOS.
So called “sick owl syndrome” is affecting the Pueo, which is typically more hearty than many other local birds species. The cause is not yet determined, but it seems to cause a stumbling behavior. I’ll have to look more into this.
For many Hawaiian families, both ancient and modern, pueo are ‘aumakua, ancestral guardians that protect the family from harm.
The Peuo is unique to Hawaii. Its ancestors came over with the Polynesians. Barn Owls were also introduced to the islands in the 50s and 60s when the local government imported 86 Barn Owls.
The extinct stilt owls also used to live there.
Yup, shorties are capable of very long flights, so they likely island hopped just like the Polynesians!
Asio = Horned owl Flammeus = Flame colored
The Flammulated Owl technically has plumicorns, but even less so than the Shorty. Flammy is in a genus all by itself.
Check out those stilt owls if you haven’t yet too. They were pretty neat!
It’s always fun learning the history of words!
Also you’re right, those stilt owls are really pretty!
I’m always curious how they come up with these names. When you get the opportunity to name something after whatever you want, there should be a good story behind it.
True. Although as an aside, I do think it’s funny how sometimes a descriptive name (like “Ruby throated hummingbird”) actually turns out to not be very accurate (ex: red bellied woodpecker has only a very slight bit of dull red on the belly!)
The woodpecker is a great example of that.
It’s also interesting to see when a name gets changed due to new things we learn about them. Easy genetic testing has lead to many scientific name changes especially.
Oh true I didn’t think of that, since names can change when we place an animal in a different genus or family
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