stilt-owl
grallistrix latin

Kauaʻi Stilt-owl, Grallistrix auceps (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)

Grallistrix can be loosely translated as "owl on stilts".

It can be assumed to have preyed on sleeping songbirds in the manner of the unrelated but convergent Grallistrix "stilt-owls" from Hawai'i.

Kauaʻi Stilt-owl, Grallistrix auceps (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)

During their pioneering research work on Hawaii, which lasted 23 years, Olson and James found and described the remains of 50 extinct bird species new to science, including the Nēnē-nui, the Moa-nalos the apteribises, and the Grallistrix "stilt-owls".

Due to its habitat which is unusual for harriers and because of its small prey, it developed shorter wings and a smaller body (rather resembling an Accipiter or the Stilt Owls Grallistrix), making it a typical example of insular dwarfism.