Cornell Ornithology Lab and eBird recognize split of the Barn Owl

[bmathison1972]

This wikipedia page gives an overview of the genus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyto

Looks like the old Tyto alba has finally been broadly accepted as belonging to four species. International groups have, and it looks like the American bird authorities are finally on board. Those four are:

Western Barn Owl, T. alba (Europe, Africa, Arabian Peninsula)
Eastern Barn Owl, T. javanica (Easter, Central, and Southeast Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands)
Andaman masked Owl, T. deroepstorffi (Andaman Archipelago of India)
American Barn Owl, T. furcata (North, Central, and South America)

Not sure what that does for toy figures. I assume most can assume to still be T. alba. I suppose one could suggest Safari's is T. furcata, if it's assumed they focus on native fauna. I assume the barn owls that live in Japan are T. javanica, which could suggest figures by Kaiyodo represent that species, although looking at pics online, the Kaiyodo CQ barn owls appear to be painted as classic T. alba.

[AnimalToyForum]

Yeah, barn owl figures made before the split could well be chimeras of different species, depending on what reference images and materials were used. I doubt the sculptors would focus on native populations if they worked on the traditional understanding of the barn owl, but I guess it's possible.

[Shane]

Genuine question - are there notable visual differences between these species that would be detectable on small toy figurines?

The Wiki article states that the separation is mainly based on a molecular phylogenetic study.

That being the case it seems like all formerly Tyto alba figures would either continue to be acceptable as Tyto alba, or could serve as whichever of the former T. albas that one chooses. Or if it's not distinguishable beyond generic level, they'd all be Tyto sp.

Which is a bit inconvenient as there are several Tyto species that are visually distinct from the four that once belonged to T. alba.

It almost seems like those four should form some kind of species complex, although I admit I'm not privy to the results of the genetic studies or how distinct they are from each other on a molecular level compared to others in the Tyto genus.

[bmathison1972]

Yeah I only brought it up in case anyone wants to use it to expand their collection. For now I am content with my single T. alba figure.