Major range extensions of two cryptic owls, Omani Owl Strix butleri and Western Brown Fish Owl Ketupa zeylonensis semenowi in Iran

Abstract

We summarize recent records of two rare owls in Iran: The Omani Owl Strix butleri and the Western Brown Fish Owl Ketupa zeylonensis semenowi. In the past decade, a significant number of records were submitted to the Iran Bird Record Committee (IBRC) by amateur ornithologists and birdwatchers. In total, there were 35 records of Omani Owl during 2008–2022 and 45 records for Brown Fish Owl during 1997–2022 in Iran. Our results demonstrate that a large portion of the global range of Omani Owl (90%) is situated within Iran. Additionally, the range of the subspecies semenowi of Brown Fish Owl is predominately located in the country. We propose a new English name, “Golden Owl”, instead of Omani Owl and maintain the English name of the subspecies semenowi, as Western Brown Fish Owl. We suggest that the scarcity of these two taxa in Iran can be attributed to a lack of systematic surveys rather than a small population size.