Rediscovery of the Flores Scops Owl Otus alfredi on Flores, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, and reaffirmation of its specific status

The Flores Scops Owl Otus alfredi remained unreported for almost a century after its description in 1897, and skepticism developed regarding its validity as a species. In 1994 a fourth individual (a juvenile) was collected near the type locality, and an adult was independently mistnetted and photographed. Morphological comparisons of this juvenile, the type series and specimens of related taxa have established a set of distinctive characters (including short rounded eartufts, long auricular filaments, a collar of triangular white spots, completely unstreaked plumage, unbanded tail, heavily feathered tarsi with distal third bare, wing formula and yellow bill, feet and claws) which, in combination, establish both the specific status of O. alfredi and its relationships with the Mountain Scops Owl Otus spilocephala.

WAHYU WIDODO, JACK H. COX AND PAMELA C. RASMUSSEN, FORKTAIL 15 (1999): 15-23