Beautiful owl still a mystery
THE masked owl is quite possibly our rarest local bird species, if indeed it is still to be found here.
There are so few records of the bird that its status is completely unknown, yet the wonderful Otway forests may still be its home.
Writing in Geelong Naturalist in May 1985, Lawrie Conole recorded sightings at the Sheoak Picnic Ground, and comments on other similar records.
After the horrific 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires the bodies of two masked owls were found on the ocean beach, one at Pt Addis, the other at Bancoora.
In 1991 owl expert Ed McNabb took photographs of the owl in the Otway Ranges.
One more recent report is in the Geelong Bird Report 2012 for the Curdievale-Port Campbell area.
Steve Davidson heard an owl “with a deep, strong rasping call (that had) the strong quality and timbre of the species”.
The bird remains a mystery species for the Geelong region, and will remain so unless we conduct a serious search for it.
One way to do this is to use previously recorded calls and at night use these to elicit an active response.
Another is to install in the Otway forests audio recorders that are “voice-activated”. We should be doing this, not just for academic reasons but to provide data to the managers of the Great Otway National Park.
If the masked owl is still to be found in the Otway Ranges, its continued survival may depend on management actions.
Like most owls, the masked owl uses large hollow trees for nesting.
According to Gordon Beruldsen in his book Australian Birds, Their Nests and Eggs it may not be as uncommon as believed. It is difficult to flush from hollows where it roosts during the day, and “it is far from vocal at night, calls being infrequent and widely spaced in time”.
I hope that the masked owl is still here. It is a truly a beautiful bird. Wildlife information and questions can be sent to ppescott@ optus net.com.au