MASKED OWL

Photographed near Atherton, Queensland October 2015

726              MASKED OWL            Tyto novaehollandiae

Australia            (568)

Found in forest; open woodlands, farmlands with large trees, e.g. river red gums, adjacent cleared country; partly forested coastal plains in Vic.; timbered watercourses, paperbark, woodlands, caves. 33-35 cm. Female larger. Range: coastal mainland Aust., widespread but very sparse. Race: melvillensis more common on Bathurst Island, Melville Island (NT); Race: castanets in Tasmania, fairly common and widespread. Sedentary.

Photographed in Tasmania, May 2022