A southern Boobook owl is a small species of owl native to Australia, New Guinea, and Timor. It was first described in 1801 by John Latham. With all that stated, you may be wondering how to find this owl.
Steps
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Know the size. Adult Southern Boobooks grow to only about 14 inches (36 cm) tall. They're the smallest owls in Australia.
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Know the weight. These birds are very light and weigh only 300 grams (11 Oz) in Canberra and 200 grams (7.1 Oz) in Broome and Cape York Peninsula. Females tend to be a bit heavier than males, weighing in at normally between 170 and 300 grams (6-10.5 Oz) while males normally weigh 146 and 300 grams (5.1-10.5 Oz). But there have been some reports of males weighing up to 360 grams (12.7 Oz).Advertisement
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Know what the males look like. Southern Boobooks have a dark brown head and upper parts. They have white eyebrows, dark brown ear converts and cheeks. They have white spots on the wings and scapulars. The chin, throat, and lores are white with black dots. The underparts are mostly brown but have white spots. The upper tail is dark brown with a gray fringe while the undertail is a gray color.
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Know what the females look like. The female looks nearly the same as the male but, the female has a light hazel eye color, a pale blue cere, and bill. The female also has gray feet with black claws. The underparts of a female are cream with a brown streak.
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Recognize juvenile boobooks. Juveniles tend to be slightly paler than the adults and don't have proper plumage until they are between three and four years old. Boobooks that are under a year old, have white underparts and foreneck. The eyebrow is slightly paler and the white dots on the underparts are slightly larger. Their feathers have a white tip on the edge and feathers from the head, underparts and neck are fluffier.
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Know how they behave. Southern boobooks are nocturnal but, tend to be seen during dawn and dusk. They have very loud boo-book hoots that can be heard from up to a Kilometer (.6 Miles) away. They give a single hoot as a warning call to anyone who gets to close to a nest but, they have allowed people to be between 1 and 3 meters (3.5-10 feet) away.
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Distinguish them from similar species. The Southern boobook is often confused with brown-hawk owls but, they have different sitting postures and brown-hawk owls have a pale border around the face. Tasmanian boobooks are also commonly confused with southern boobooks but, Tasmanian boobooks have golden eyes, pink feet, the underparts are reddish and have a brown tinge. [1] X Research sourceAdvertisement
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