Look whoo-whoo’s back in the forest

Signs of elusive masked owl found in Snug reserve

THE discovery of mysterious pellets at a reserve in Snug has led to excitement among some experts after masked owls were confirmed to be living in the area.

Kingborough Council’s biodiversity officer Nicholas Alexander said he found an interesting-looking pellet – a mix of compacted indigestible matter such as fur or claws which is regurgitated by some animals – at a remote reserve at Snug.

“While I was there, I found an area of the reserve which had a lot of bird poo, which is a good sign of birds of prey,” Mr Alexander said.

“I found a pellet sitting on the leaf litter, it had some claws, a couple of pieces of bone and quite a lot of fur.

“I’m not an expert but I knew they’re one of our larger birds of prey and this was potentially a pellet from a Tasmanian masked owl.”

Mr Alexander collected the pellet and dissected it.

He then ventured out again to the area, this time accompanied by a special dog, trained to sniff out masked owls.

“He sniffed around in the reserve to see if he could find any masked owl pellets and he did,” Mr Alexander said.

“Once he found them, we were confident there were masked owls using the reserve.”

Mr Alexander said it’s the first time the council had been aware of a masked owl occupying a Kingborough reserve.

“They’re pretty territorial and occur in breeding pairs so it’s likely there’s a pair in the area in Snug,” Mr Alexander said.

“Now that this reserve is on our radar, we’ll definitely go back every few years to look for signs threatened species might be using it.”

Mr Alexander said the species “wasn’t doing so well”.

“It’s an endangered species so it’s good to know we have this species in our local area,” he said.

“Particularly in this time of year, people are using mouse baits and it can have a negative impact on masked owls.”

Mr Alexander said the discovery has already been useful.

“The Tasmania Fire Service are planning on doing a fuel reduction burn in the area so we’ve advised them of the masked owls,” Mr Alexander said.

“They’ll be conducting further surveys with a masked owl expert who will go out and have a look at certain trees and look for signs they are in the area.”

Mr Alexander said TFS would adjust its plan according to the advice of their expert.

“That could be protecting certain trees or avoiding certain areas,” he said.

“The main sorts of habitats we would want to protect are their roosting habitats, the expert can find the trees and protect them from future burns.”