For the first time since its discovery more than 125 years ago, scientists have documented the Bornean subspecies of the Rajah Scops-Owl (Otus brookii brookii) in the montane forest of Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu.
May 5th, 2021, 9:30AM / BY Justine Bowe, Ruth Bennett and Scott Sillett
If we want what’s best for birds, it’s good to go wild (Robert Rice, Smithsonian s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)
About 300 miles southwest of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the shaded understory of Kafa Biosphere Reserve’s montane rainforests, one of the world’s most traded commodities still grows wild. Silvery-cheeked hornbills and other birds eat its red fruits and disperse the large seeds over hundreds of miles. Local people roast handfuls of the seeds at a time, which are then brewed into a delicious drink that is sipped slowly in traditional, hours-long ceremonies. Ethiopia’s forest-grown Coffea arabica is the mother of all arabica coffees farmed around the world from Colombia to Sumatra and beloved globally.
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IMAGE: The first photograph of the Bornean Rajah scops owl in the wild. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ecologist Andy Boyce reported the rediscovery and photographed this elusive subspecies in the mountainous. view more
Credit: Andy Boyce
The Bornean subspecies of Rajah scops owl (
Otus brookii brookii), documented in the wild for the first time since 1892, may be its own unique species and deserving of a conservation designation. Published April 28 in
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ecologist Andy Boyce reported the rediscovery and photographed this elusive subspecies in the mountainous forests of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.
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Health Editor’s Note: One of the big pluses of springtime is seeing the return of various birds to the feeders, pond, and yard. Right now I am anxiously awaiting the return of the hummingbirds. The feeders have been up for two weeks and still no hummers. Locally it has been a rather cold spring this year….Carol
by Abigail Croll and Julia Ross/Smithsonianmag.com
Each spring across the forests, lakes and suburbs of North America, millions of birds take a long journey north, leaving their winter home in Central or South America in search of summer nesting territory.