Barking Owl Ninox connivens

Length 39–44 cm; wingspan 85–120 cm; weight: male 425–740 g, female 380–710 g.

The Barking Owl is typically seen singly or in pairs, and occasionally in family groups comprising an adult pair and up to 3 young.  Barking Owls roost in densely foliaged trees, either among the foliage or on a bare branch in the shade beneath the canopy, generally with a good view of surroundings; roosts are often betrayed by the presence of whitish excreta, pellets and fur littering the foliage or the ground below.  Barking Owls are more often heard than seen; nevertheless, they are more active during daylight than other Ninox owls, often being active at dusk or sometimes even late in the afternoon, especially on overcast days, and, similarly, they tend to remain active until later in the pre-dawn morning than other owls, but are mostly roosting by sunrise; they occasionally call and hunt opportunistically near their roost-site during the day.  The flight of the Barking Owl is fast and direct, with deep powerful wing-beats interspersed with short glides, and they are capable of capturing fast-flying prey such as bats or birds; their flight-actions and silhouette are like those of an agile Powerful Owl, and markedly more agile and manoeuvrable than a Southern Boobook.

HABITAT
The species mainly inhabits dry open sclerophyll forests and woodlands, favouring dense riparian stands of eucalypts (such as River Red Gum, Forest Red Gum, Coolibah or Black Box) or casuarinas along watercourses or around wetlands, where there are many large trees suitable for roosting or breeding.  They often occur in open woodlands on plains and in foothills, often dominated by eucalypts (such as Cabbage Red Gum, Blakely’s Red Gum, Manna Gum), or Angophora.  Such suitable habitats include remnant patches, or clumps of trees in partly cleared land, such as farmland.  Barking Owls are sometimes recorded in pine plantations or in patches of eucalypt forest within pine plantations, and sometimes also occur in dense or closed forests, though usually near clearings, including vine forests with Hoop Pine, at the edge of rainforest vegatetion or in patches of rainforest, and in tall wet sclerophyll forests.

DISTRIBUTION
In Australia, the Barking Owl is widespread on the mainland, but absent from Tasmania.  Elsewhere, it is recorded on a few islands in the Moluccas, and in New Guinea, it occurs from the middle reaches of the Sepik River east to Karkar Island and the Huon Peninsula in the north, and in southern Papua New Guinea, west to Merauke in south-eastern West Papua.

STATUS

• Vulnerable in New South Wales
• Endangered in Victoria
• Rare in South Australia

THREATS
Barking Owls are adversely affected by the loss and degradation of their preferred habitats, mostly by clearance for agriculture, which is often accompanied by a decline in the number of remnant trees and the suppression of regeneration from grazing, resulting in a reduction in the availability of prey species.  In remnant woodlands, harvesting of firewood and other timber destroys hollow-bearing trees.  It is not recorded in regenerating areas of forest which are younger than 60 years old.  In addition, areas of fragmented forest or woodland in agricultural areas are threatened by continued clearance.  Tree-hollows that are used for nesting or roosting are sometimes taken over by feral honeybees.  Barking Owls are seldom struck by vehicles on roads, but are sometimes killed or injured by colliding with wire fences or powerlines.  The species was formerly caught in rabbit traps.

MOVEMENTS
Sedentary or resident.

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