thomasmcphersonphotography's Journal

Owls have to be the coolest nocturnal animal however, they simply go unnoticed in Australia. We here have 11 types of owls from the Barking Owl to the Eastern-Grass Owl. Sadly there is one species that is the most endangered through South East Queensland and that is the Powerful owl or Ninox strenua. It is easily recognisable with its small head, white and brown barring, and large yellow/orange talons. The Powerful Owl can grow up to 65cm long and is the largest owl on the continent.

The habitat bested suited to these owls are open forests and woodlands. But also in sheltered gullies with dense under-stories. These owls can also found in parks, small bushland patches, farmland, and even in suburban areas. They need large forests with mature trees that contain hollows that are used for their breeding.

This is unfortunately the main reason these guys are endangered in South East Queensland.
With increasing urbanisation, these owls are continuously on the move getting pushed out of location after location. Large forest owls such as the Powerful Owl are apex predators that require complex habitat requirements and a large home range. The Powerful Owl mates for life and pairs defend their territory all year round, however, with continued expansion, this can be extremely dangerous for them.

Keep a lookout in your neighbourhood for bundles of hair, animal jaws, and other bones. Looking down on the ground for white spots and animal carcasses is often a better way of looking for this species. They have a distinct call particularly through dusk and dawn, Powerful Owls have a slow “whoo-hoo” call that is soft but resonant.

Ninox strenua struggle especially throughout South-East Queensland; living in urban areas these owls suffer from dogs, cats as well as electrocution, car strikes, and deforestation. They eat possums, birds, and flying foxes. However, they also suffer from loss of prey due to cats and dogs killing animals in their diet. Some of their prey such as ringtail possums and sugar gliders rely on hollows for breeding also, so destruction by humans is swinging the entire ecosystem out of balance. Rat poisons can kill wild animals including owls. Human population growth has led to an anthropogenic modification of the environment, including land clearing for suburban developments. The growing population density, particularly in the South-East Queensland region, resulted in the highest land clearing rates for settlements. These factors combined are threatening the life of this species, leading it to extinction.

What can be done to help? Keeping a lookout for these owls and let the powerful owl project know so that they can continue to do amazing work. (Birdlife Australia currently has the Powerful Owl Project active which monitors these owls distribution and abundance and uncovers why owls are present in some areas and absent in others.)

Find more details here - https://birdlife.org.au/projects/urban-birds/powerful-owl-project-pow

Many birdwatchers think that the male fairywren is always in its beautiful breeding plumage and the female is the only sex in the drab brown. This is not correct and many birders can make mistakes whilst identifying the specific Fairywren species thinking it is a female, but instead actually locating a male in non-breeding plumage.

Firstly, the females do stay with their brownish plumage for the entire year and it is only the males that are different. For 2-5 months male fairywrens have their breeding plumage, and males who showcase the best will get a mate. Older males with more testosterone can hold their breeding feathers much longer which improves their chances of being recognised by a female. This gives a longer window of opportunity for the female to spot him compared to a smaller time frame for younger males.

Males have adapted over time to maximise their chance of a mate through adventitious breeding/moulting. Males will moult multiple times during the mating season to allow for continuous bright plumage and no dull breeding plumage feathers, which could create a lack of interest for the females.

When breeding time is over males moult their feathers and start to look more like the females. This is where males can look like they are stuck between breeding and non-breeding plumage (see attached image).

If out in the field with a group of fairywrens it can be mistaken that the entire group is all females. This is incorrect because fairywrens always have the same amount of males and females inside a group. It is certain that the males are just not in their breeding plumage.

Non-breeding Fairywren males can be extremely hard to identify whilst in the field as they are an extremely fast moving bird. It can be difficult to notice the small differences between the genders. The easiest way to tell apart non-breeding males and females is by looking at the plumage. Even though they are quite similar there are some distinguishing factors.

In South-East Queensland, we have two main fairywren species the variegated fairywren and the red-backed fairywren (just a little further south, superb can be found, more around Lamington National Park.)

Variegated Fairywrens, when not in breeding plumage have a completely black beak compared to a orange beak presented by the females.

Red-Backed Fairywrens are much harder to distinguish and sometimes can be unidentifiable. The beak usually can have a brownish tinge on both sexes, however the male may still have a black beak from the breeding season.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found this journal interesting.
Kind Regards,
Thomas McPherson