Australian Owls

A medium large, sooty black Owl with very large, dark eyes set in a round facial disc. The upperparts are sooty black, finely spotted white on the head with larger but sparser white spots on the wings. The Facial disc is large, round and sooty black through to dark grey or silver and is heavily edged black. The underparts vary from sooty black to dark grey, (never as dark as the upperparts) finely spotted with white. The Belly is always paler than the breast. The tail is very short, the legs feathered and eyes very large with a black iris. Size37-51cm.
Voice:Notable for its extraordinary territorial call, a long descending whistled scream that sounds like a falling bomb.
Breeding:Nest in a large tree hollow and lay usually 2 eggs (about 4 days appart). The incubation period is about 42 days and the young fledge at about 80 to 85 days. Only the female incubates, fed by her mate at the nest.
Location:Sooty Owl occurs in two disjunct Australian populations: in the Cairns-Atherton region of north-eastern Queensland; and from near Maryborough in Queensland south to Melbourne. The northern population is often separated as a distinct species (the Lesser Sooty Owl).
Habitat:Deep moist gullies in eucalypt forest, usually with big, old, smooth-barked gums and an understorey of tree ferns and Lilly Pilly. They may move into drier forest to hunt but they need the primary habitat for roosting and breeding.
Hunting:Flexible in diet, it eats small mammals, roosting birds, frogs, small reptiles and, occasionally, insects.

These owls are one of the most popular and favourits in Australia and worldwide. Mostly known for their round flat facial disk and heart shaped mask.Small black eyes and feathers of fawn to grey and lightly black upperparts.White flecked underparts and soft plumage to to enable silent flight. Size35cm.
Hunting:Mainly mice,rats which are swallowed whole and fur and bones regurgitated some hours later.
Voice:A rasping screech in flight or perched and especially noisy during breeding season.
Breeding:All year round mainly April to October. Nest in deep hollow of treetrunks in open forrest, caves, farm barns and even church steepels.

Much larger and longer than the Boobook but very similar features,large yellow eyes,dark brown upper body parts with white spots and underparts white with streaky brown to grey. Size38-45 cm.
Voice:Very well known for double noted-Woof Woof sound.
Breeding:June-October in hollowed large trees,2-3 white eggs.Male seeks food for female and young.
Location:Most of Australia apart from Tasmania and except for treeless areas.Also New Guinea.
Habitate: Open forest,woodlands,trees along watercourses,rivergums and paperbarks of semi arid mulga and spinifex country.
Hunting:At night preys upon birds (up to the size of a Tawny Frogmouth), mammals, rabbits and nocturnal insects.

Small,white underparts streaked brown,upperparts brown.Distinctive dark brown patches behind eyes and face off white. Female much darker and larger.Size30-36 cm.
Voice:Well known double noted "boo-book" sound repeated for a long lengthy period of time.Male's call quicker.
Breeding:August-November.Lay 2-3 white eggs in tree hollow.
Location:Thoughout Australia and New Guinea,also Timor and New Zealand.
Habitat:Forest and woodlands,almost treeles plains, suburban parks and gardens.
Hunting:Preys on small birds,frogs and mammals such as the House Mouse
and also invertebrates (insects) especially moths and nocturnal beetles.

The Grass Owl is unuasal among Australian birds.Aptly named, the Grass Owl shelters by day in dense grass tussocks, in squats reached by hidden runways in the grass. It is readily distinguished from other Tyto owls in flight by the fact that the colours of the upperwing (tawny brown and slate) are distributed in bold slabs; the upperwings of other owls, although intricately mottled, offer a much more even impression of colour.Size32-36cm.
Voice:Appears to be more silent than the Barn Owl, the normal call being a hissing scream.
Breeding:Nesting may occur at any time, but especially from March to June. The nest is a hidden platform of grass, and the usual clutch consists of three to eight eggs. Only the female incubates, but the male brings her food at night and roosts with her during the day.
Location:It inhabits heathland and extensive grasslands on the flood plains of large rivers along the east coast from Cape York to the Manning River in New South Wales.It also occurs in the grasslands of the Barkly Tableland and the channel country of western Queensland. Also occurs in southern Africa and from India east to Fiji (but not in New Guinea). Uncertainty exists as to whether African birds are specifically distinct from eastern populations, and the Australian form is often listed as the Eastern Grass Owl.
Hunting:By night it hunts surrounding grasslands at a height of several metres, locating it's prey by sight and sound.Long legs for clawing long haired rats or cane rats their most common food.

The Christmas Island Hawk-Owl is one of three nationally threatened birds of prey in Australia. The total population of the species is contained on a single island and estimated to be less than 1000.Resembles a small, red-brown Boobook Owl. The breast is whitish and finely barred rufous. Eyes are yellow. Size26-29cm.
Voice:Call is similar to the Boobook Owl, being two hoots, the second being slightly lower in pitch as their main call.This call is often repeated many times in just a few minutes.
Breeding:At one nest, the single chick took about 77 days from hatching to fledging.
Location:The Christmas Island Hawk-Owl is restricted to Christmas Island, a 135 square kilometre (52 square mile) Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, 360 kilometres (223.6 miles) south of Java.
Habitat:They inhabit the tropical rainforest, monsoon forest and scrub of Christmas Island.
Hunting:The Christmas Island Hawk Owl eats mainly insects, usually by snatching them from foliage. They have also been observed hawking for insects around street lights. Other prey recorded include juvenile black rats, and small lizards and birds.

Lesser Sooty Owl is a smaller cousin of the Sooty Owl of the south inhabit the north Queensland rainforests. They are sometimes called the Silver Owl. A small to medium, sooty black Owl with silvery white underparts. They have many similarities to the Sooty Owl but are lighter in colour and noticeably smaller. The upperparts are sooty black or grey-brown with large numbers of fine silvery white spots on the head and wings. They have a large round facial disc with silvery white shading to black around the eyes - the face is heavily edged black. Underparts are silvery white with many fine dark grey or sooty black chevrons, particularly on the breast. Lesser Sooty Owls have very short tails. Their eyes are very large with a black Iris. The beak is pale horn. Toes are pale grey with black talons. Sexes look similar but the female is usually slightly larger. Size 31-38cm.
Voice:They are rarely seen but their piercing "bomb-whistle" call sometimes announces their presence.
Breeding:The female Lesser Sooty Owl generally lays 2 eggs and does not leave the nest during the incubation period of about 42 days. The male Sooty brings food to the nest several times a night during this period for his mate. The nest is usually a large hollow in the trunk or a main limb of a living tree, often Rose Gum.
Location:There are about 2,000 breeding pairs of Lesser Sooty Owls remaining in the rainforests of tropical North Queensland. From Mount Spec in the south to Cooktown in the north. Generally confined to the mainland but there have been sightings recorded on Hinchinbrook Island. They are abundant in optimal habitat with territories as small as 50 hectares.
Hunting:They are able to fly through the dense tropical rainforests on the darkest night and locate and capture their prey. Their main diet is rats, lizards, frogs and small mammals.

The Masked Owl is the largest and most powerful representative of the genus Tyto in Australia and the female of the Tasmanian race is the largest in the world. They are also known as Cave Owls, or Tasmanian Masked Owls.
Upperparts are blackish-brown, finely freckled with white and with some white spots. There is buff barring in the wing and back feathers. The underparts whim to very pale buff, and there are black spots on the breast and flank. The facial disc is white with a blackish-brown edge, somewhat rufous or brown around the eyes, which have a brown iris. The Beak is white and feet off-white to brownish. The female is considerably larger than the male.Size38-57cm.
Voice: A Masked Owl's call is similar to that of Barn Owl but louder, deeper and harsher.
Breeding:They apparently mate for life and maintains permanent territories,and nesting may occur at any time. The male prepares the nest cavity in a tree but only the female incubates the two or three eggs, which hatch in about 35 days; she is fed at the nest by the male. The young fledge at 70 to 84 days. The same tree cavity is often used for nesting for several years in succession.
Location:The Masked Owl is a sedentary inhabitant of eucalypt forest and woodland in southern New Guinea and Australia. Secretive, relatively silent and strictly nocturnal, its presence is difficult to detect and some details of its distribution remain uncertain. It apparently occurs nowhere more than 300 kilometres from the coast, and is common in Tasmania.
Habitat:Forest and open woodland, but also in treeless country where cave shelters are available. Roosts by day in tree hollows, caves, or heavy foliage.
Hunting:Masked Owls feed on terrestrial mammals, with rabbits making up a large proportion of the Tasmanian bird's diet. They will also eat Sugar Gliders, Ringtail and Brushtail Possums, Bush rats, Antechinus, birds and domestic fowl. Masked Owls prefer to hunt in open country, by perching on fenceposts and low branches.

The massive Powerful Owl sometimes called the Eagle Owl,is the largest owl in Australia.Has very large piercing yellow eyes,a masked appearance,face white with very prominent dark eye patches.Upperparts dark grey-brown,streaked white on crown,remainder barred light grey.Underparts buffy-white,marked with dark grey-brown.Leggs feathered to ankle and powerful feet dull yellow.Size 48-65cm.
Voice:The territorial call uttered by both sexes throughout the year,is a loud deliberate " whoo-hoo ".
Breeding:Breeding occurs mainly from May to October. The nest is in a large tree cavity, usually high in very large eucalypt trees. Prepared by the male, the cavity is carpeted with dead leaves and wood debris. The female alone incubates the two eggs (laid four nights apart) until they hatch in about 37 days; she is fed near the nest by the male, who also hunts for the young. Fledging takes about 60 days.They live in pairs and mate for life.
Location:The Powerful Owl is confined to south-eastern Australia (except Tasmania) from the vicinity of Gladstone in Queensland to the Otway Ranges in Victoria. It is characteristically a bird of densely forested gullies on the coastal slopes of the Great Dividing Range but it also occurs on the western slopes and in some outlying mountain ranges such as the Warrumbungles in New South Wales.
Habitate:Coastal and mountain scrubs and woodlands,especially densly vegetated deep gullied terrain adjacent to more open forest.
Hunting:At night it preys on large birds and slow-moving arboreal mammals and the most important prey species include the Greater Glider, the Common Ringtail Possum, and the Sugar Glider.Birds such as,Kookaburra, White Cockatoo, Galah, White-winged Chough, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong and Australian Raven.
Other mammals ,rabbits,mice,Tuan, Brown Antechinus.Also some insects.Prey is torn apart, the head usually being eaten first; the tail and hindquarters are often held carefully under one foot at roost through the following day, then consumed before the owl leaves to hunt in the evening.