Hi Gary,

The owls that you saw on O`ahu may have been the endemic subspecies of the Short-eared Owl (called Pueo in Hawaiian) as well. Both are found on most of the 8 major islands. The Barn Owls found in Hawai`i were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s and are the same species that we have here.

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net


At 7:00 Monday evening I was driving west on Hastings near the Port Townsend
city limits. At approximately one-half mile east of Cook Street I saw a
good-sized bird on a telephone wire on the north side of the road. Used to
seeing numerous crows, pigeons, and blackbirds I kept going. The more I
thought however, the silhouette didnt fit the usual suspects, plus it was
past sunset. I turned and went back and luckily it was still there, still
on the wire and facing away from the road. I stopped and tried to use the
car lights to get a decent view but could not, due to the bird facing away.
Just at that moment it turned its head to see what I was doing and there was
the pale white, heart-shaped face just for a moment before it launched and
headed north. My first true Barn owl, although I had seen many Pueos on
Oahu in Hawaii years ago which I understand to be basically the same bird.

Gary Cummins