Stilt-owl

Short description: Extinct genus of birds

Stilt-owl

Temporal range: Holocene

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Strigiformes
Family:  | Strigidae
Genus:  | †Grallistrix
Species

Grallistrix auceps
Grallistrix erdmani
Grallistrix geleches
Grallistrix orion

The stilt-owls (Grallistrix) is an extinct genus of true owls which contains four species, all of which lived on the Hawaiian Islands.

Grallistrix can be loosely translated as "owl on stilts". The genus received this name due to the long legs and terrestrial habits which they evolved in the absence of mammalian predators on their island homes. They fed on smaller birds such as Hawaiian honeycreepers. They were also able to fly, but likely did most of their hunting on the ground, filling the niches occupied by medium-sized predatory mammals elsewhere.

The owls were never seen alive by scientists and are known only from subfossil bones.

## Contents

* 1 Species
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Species

* Kaua‘i stilt-owl, Grallistrix auceps
* Maui stilt-owl, Grallistrix erdmani
* Moloka‘i stilt-owl, Grallistrix geleches
* O‘ahu stilt-owl, Grallistrix orion

## See also

* Tyto pollens
* Ornimegalonyx
* Late Quaternary prehistoric birds
* List of extinct birds
* List of fossil birds
* List of extinct animals
* Flightless birds

## References

* Kay, E. Alison (1994). A Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands: Selected Readings II. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1659-5. https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00kaye.
* Ziegler, Alan C. (2002). Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2190-4.

## External links

* http://www.extinct.minks-lang.de/7voegel/a.birdsfamilien/strigidae1.htm

Wikidata ☰ Q292580 entry

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