New Video Features One of World’s Rarest Birds — Peru’s Long-whiskered Owlet

MEDIA RELEASE

Contact: Robert Johns, 202-234-7181 ext.210,

(Washington, D.C., December 23, 2011) A new, one minute video featuring the rare and reclusive Long-whiskered Owlet of Peru, taken by Guy Foulks of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is now available on YouTube. This marks one of only a handful of times the bird has ever been captured on film.

The video, including audio of the bird vocalizing, was filmed soon after sunset on November 3rd, 2011 at Peru’s Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva Private Conservation Area.

The Long-whiskered Owlet is one of the rarest birds in the world, restricted only to a small area in northern Peru. It was originally discovered in 1976, but not seen again until 2002.  Although its nocturnal reclusive nature means that few people have seen the owl, sightings are becoming more common for tourists visiting the reserve’s aptly-named Owlet Lodge.

The Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva reserve and associated conservation concession protect over 24,000 acres of cloud forest located in the northern Peru. Over 300 species of birds can be found here, including four threatened birds – the Long-whiskered Owlet, Royal Sunangel, Johnson’s Tody-Tyrant, and Ochre-fronted Antpitta. The conservation area was established in 2005 by the Peruvian conservation organization ECOAN, with support from American Bird Conservancy. With support of funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act and American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program, ECOAN and ABC are planting hundreds of thousands of native trees within Abra Patricia and on private lands in the buffer zone of the reserve.
Those interested in visiting the reserve, which features the Owlet Lodge, an extensive trail system, antpitta feeding, hummingbird feeders, and canopy tower can learn more and plan their trip at www.conservationbirding.org.