Powerful owl

Powerful owl
Male and female powerful owl, Sydney
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Ninox
Species:
N. strenua
Binomial name
Ninox strenua
(Gould, 1838)
The distribution of the powerful owl

The powerful owl (Ninox strenua), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than 200 km (120 mi) inland. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species also refers to this species as the powerful boobook.[1]

An apex predator in its narrow distribution, powerful owls are often opportunists, like most predators, but generally are dedicated to hunting arboreal mammals, in particular small to medium-sized marsupials. Such prey can comprise about three-quarters of their diet. Generally, this species lives in primary forests with tall, native trees, but can show some habitat flexibility when not nesting.

The powerful owl is a typically territorial raptorial bird that maintains a large home range and has long intervals between egg-laying and hatching of clutches. Also, like many types of raptorial birds, they must survive a long stretch to independence in young owls after fledging. Unlike most raptorial birds, however, male powerful owls are larger and stronger than females, so the male takes the dominant position in the mating pair, which extends to food distribution.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "Ninox strenua". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22689389A93229550. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22689389A93229550.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ^ Hume, R. (1991). Owls of the World. Running Press, Philadelphia, PA.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Konig was invoked but never defined (see the help page).