Biology and Conservation of Blakiston's Fish-Owls (Ketupa blakistoni) in Russia: A Review of the Primary Literature and an Assessment of the Secondary Literature

Abstract

Blakiston's Fish-Owl (Ketupa blakistoni) is a little-studied endangered species endemic to north- east Asia. Although it is a species of global conservation interest, much of the primary literature on Blakiston's Fish-Owls is limited to Russian- and Japanese-language publications, with content summarized for the broader English-speaking scientific community in secondary, English-language sources. We here examine and summarize content of 44 publications from the primary Russian Blakiston's Fish-Owl litera- ture, assess the accuracy of 24 publications from the secondary literature, and determine the dependence of authors of primary Ketupa genus literature on secondary sources for information. We also provide an overview of contemporary knowledge of the species and summarize primary conservation issues. Despite increasing threats from human encroachment and industrial logging, we found that most publications on Blakiston's Fish-Owls in Russia focused only on the species' presence and lacked sufficient breadth to guide conservation efforts. We also found the secondary literature to be generally accurate; however, we noted a pattern of errors involving misinterpretation of original sources and repetition of false records. Finally, we found a strong dependence on secondary literature by authors of primary Ketupa literature.