Southern Boobook owl
2 Comments »3rd May, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Garden birds, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars, Zoos
Barking owl, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
I was working late at my computer tonight when I heard a sound outside. I raced out, torch in hand. Sure enough – I heard a Southern Boobook owl calling. I tried to follow the sound but after walking across our five acre block of land it was still no closer.
I expect it was at least a kilometre away because the night was very still and sounds travels a long way on evenings like this. Still, it is a significant recording. On checking my bird database on my computer it is over 22 years since I last recorded this species here at home. That’s exciting.
The Southern Boobook is found over a large part of Australia and is our smallest owl. It is also called a Mopoke because of its call. It feeds on small mammals such as mice, insects, bats and moths. It is almost entirely nocturnal but is sometimes seen out hunting on dull, cloudy days.
As yet I do not have a photo of this species taken in the wild. Instead I have a photo of a Powerful Owl taken through the wire of an aviary at the Adelaide Zoo.
You can read more about this owl on the Birds in Backyards site here.
You can read more about my encounters with owls, frogmouths and nightjars here.
That’s not a bird!
Long-nosed Potoroo, Adelaide Zoo
On my visit to the Adelaide Zoo last week I spent some time in a walk through aviary. I wanted to get some more photos of the birds in their collection so I could share them here.
After several minutes in the enclosure my attention was drawn to the wooden walkway I was on. A small furry creature had jumped up on the walkway and came to investigate my shoes. It was a Long-nosed Potoroo, a small Australian mammal the size of a rabbit. He sniffed quite deliberately all around my shoes before hopping off to get a rub and a scratch from some children who had just entered the aviary.
This species of potoroo is found in Tasmania and in small numbers on the mainland, mainly coastal NSW and Victoria. It is not entirely nocturnal (unlike many of our mammals) and lives on fungi, insects, seeds, fruit, and vegetation.
Now to appease the birders who come to this site, here are two photos of birds I took only a minute or so before the potoroo came into my life.
Female Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
Male Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo