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Boobook Owl

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Ninox boobook

Description

laughing kookaburra

The Southern Boobook owl is the smallest and most common owl in Australia.  It is dark brown above and rufous-brown below, heavily streaked and spotted with white.  It has large greenish-yellow eyes in a large facial mask.  The northern birds are darker and larger than those in Tasmania.  Young Southern Boobooks are almost entirely white below, with conspicuous brown facial masks.  Like other owl species, boobooks are nocturnal (i.e. active at night). They have comb-like fringes on their flight feathers allow them to fly almost silently.   It's call is a loud 'boo-book'.

Nesting season is September to November and the boobook will indiscriminately nest in a reasonable hollow, laying two or three white eggs.  Chicks usually leave the nest between October and December and for the first few weeks the father continues to feed them as they learn to hunt on their own. 

The Southern Boobook Owl is sometimes confused with the similar Barking Owl (Ninox connivens), however the Barking Owl is more grey-brown and has streaks rather than spots underneath.

Adaptations

  • Owls possess large, forward facing eyes that enable excellent binocular vision (which is important for depth perception) at night when they are actively hunting
  • Their fringed flight feathers enable them to fly silently so that they can swoop on unsuspecting prey

Feeding relationships

  • What I eat: rodents, small birds, invertebrates, lizards, micro bats
  • What eats me: Goshawks, Eagles, feral cats, foxes

Interesting facts

On the Australian mainland, boobooks have the largest range of any owl in Australia and can be found in all habitats except for those with no hollows for them to rest (e.g. treeless deserts).  There have been reports of Boobooks on the Nullabor Plain where they have nested in hollows in caves as there were no suitable trees.

Source: Australian Museum, iNaturalist, Healthy Wildlife

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Last reviewed 03 June 2020
Last updated 03 June 2020