The Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi), one of the most elusive birds in the world, was watched and photographed on January 24th in the town of La Esperanza in Peru. The Owlet was observed by Shachar Alterman, an Israeli birdwatcher who joined a Neotropical Primate Conservation project to carry out birds’ surveys in the region, Noga Shanee, co-founder of the organization, and Edin Fonseca, a local guide who find the bird.
Long-whiskered Owlet was discovered in 1976, when it was caught in the mist nest of a Louisiana State University team. Since it was first sighted, the owlet was found only a very few times. It is endemic to a small area in the Andean mountains in Amazonas and San Martín in northern Peru. It is restricted to cloud forests with dense undergrowth and epiphytes at about 1890-2200 meters (6200-7220 ft) above sea level and is categorized as endangered species by IUCN Red List.
On the same night the owlet was found, the N.P.C group heard no less than five birds which responded to the recorded calls played by the team. No previous record of such dense population exists so far. Two other species of rare and endemic birds; Rusty-Tinged Antpitta and the Johnson’s Tody-Tyrant were identified in Peroles at the same trip.
This is only the fourth time this rare bird is ever seen in the wild – and the first time it is captured on video.
[...] Ochre-fronted Antpitta, and has been declared a priority by the Alliance for Zero Extinction. …First Long-whiskered Owlet video | Neotropical BirdingThe Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi), one of the most elusive birds in the world, was [...]