ML181076121

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

The owl was identified by many factors. I remember when first looking at it that the size made me wonder of this really could be an European. I have ringed some in Israel, one deadfound in Denmark and we also caught 2 earlier same season in Khovd. Anyway this one was weird looking very dark and rufous. I haven't been able to find a single photo of such a dark European looking one! -We knew the best and most reliable ID is the primary projection, but the bird showed us 3 outermost primaries in moult which excluded our chance of using that ID factor. Same with the winglenght - couldn't be used. - White scaptular band. I tried looking up photos of European but couldn't find any European showing that band - Eye colour fits perfect for Oriental - Amount of band on 1. tail feather fits Oritental and not European. European should have between 5-7 tail bands which the first European we caught in Khovd showed with 7 bands. The second we caught in Khovd showed 6 and the Oriental one showed 3. - The bird had a short P7 which is also good for Oriental.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

1000

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/5000 sec

Dimensions

4608 pixels x 3080 pixels

Original file size

6.06 MB