Adults are dark brown to dark reddish/brown above with narrow light-brown and off-white barring. Underparts are off-white with close rufous-brown barring. They also have greenish-yellow eyes and a prominent black/brown mask. The sexes are alike in plumage but females are smaller and lighter. Juveniles distinctly have an entirely downy white head, neck and underbody and prominent dark mask.
Eat small and medium-sized mammals, small to large birds and large insects. They can also take fruit-bats in flight. The different subspecies found in Australia differ slightly in size and in coloration intensity.
Australia’s only tropical owl. Restricted to coastal and subcoastal areas in the North and North-East with disjointed distribution from the Kimberley to mid-eastern Queensland.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We recognise and appreciate the traditional significance and cultural roles birds of prey play in the lives of our First Nations people.
