Sooty Owl - profile

Scientific name: Tyto tenebricosa 
 Conservation status in NSW: Vulnerable

Description

A medium-sized owl to 45 cm long, with dark eyes set in a prominent flat, heart-shaped facial disc. Dark sooty-grey in colour, with large eyes in a grey face, fine white spotting above and below, and a pale belly. The plumage of the fledglings is similar to the adult, but has tufts of down on the head and underparts.

Location and habitat

Distribution
 Occupies the easternmost one-eighth of NSW, occurring on the coast, coastal escarpment and eastern tablelands. There is no seasonal variation in its distribution.

• Occurs in rainforest, including dry rainforest, subtropical and warm temperate rainforest, as well as moist eucalypt forests.
• Roosts by day in the hollow of a tall forest tree or in heavy vegetation; hunts by night for small ground mammals or tree-dwelling mammals such as the Common Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) or Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps).
• Nests in very large tree-hollows.

Regional information
This species is found in the following catchment management authority regions. Click on a region name to see more details about the distribution, vegetation types and habitat preference of the species in that region.

• Border Rivers/Gwydir
• Hawkesbury/Nepean
• Hunter/Central Rivers
• Murray
• Murrumbidgee
• Namoi
• Northern Rivers
• Southern Rivers
• Sydney Metro

Threats

• Loss of mature hollow-bearing trees and changes to forest and woodland structure, which leads to fewer such trees in the future.
• Clearing of habitat for grazing, agriculture, forestry or other development.
• A combination of grazing and regular burning is a threat, through the effects on the quality of ground cover for mammal prey, particularly in open, grassy forests.
• Secondary poisoning from rodenticides.

Recovery strategies

Priority actions are the specific, practical things that must be done to recover a threatened species, population or ecological community. The Department of Environment and Conservation has identified 22 priority actions to help recover the Sooty Owl in New South Wales.

What needs to be done to recover this species?

• Retain and protect stands of rainforest and moist forest, especially those with hollow-bearing trees.
• Retain hollow-bearing trees as well as large, mature trees that will provide hollows in the future.
• Limit the use of pesticides used in suitable native habitat.

References

• Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) (2004) Recovery Plan for Randia moorei Spiny Gardenia. NSW DEC, Sydney.
• Garnett, S. and Crowley, G. M. (2000) The Action Plan for Australian Birds. Published by Environment Australia. Canberra, ACT.
• Kavanagh, R.P. and Jackson, R. (1997) Home-range, movements and diet of the Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa near Royal National Park, Sydney. In Czechura, G. and Debus, S. (Eds), Australian Raptor Studies II, Birds Australia Monograph 3, Birds Australia, Me
• Newton, I., Kavanagh, R., Olson, J. and Taylor, I. (eds.) (2002) Ecology and Conservation of Owls. CSIRO Publishing. Collingwood Victoria.