Barn-owls (Tytonidae)
Australian Masked-owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) - HBW 5, p. 67
French: Effraie masquée
German: Neuhollandeule
Spanish: Lechuza Australiana
Other common names: Chestnut-faced/Maw-faced/Masked/Cave Owl; New Guinea Masked-owl (calabyi); Tasmanian Masked-owl/Owl (castanops)
Taxonomy: St[rix]? Novæ Hollandiæ Stephens, 1826, New South Wales.
Forms superspecies with T. aurantia, T. manusi, T. sororcula, T. nigrobrunnea and T. inexspectata. Some authors treat T. sororcula and T. manusi as conspecific with present species, and in past most of the above allospecies were lumped into present species. Race castanops often treated as separate species, but recent review of size and colour variation within S Australian populations supports inclusion within present species, at subspecific level. New Guinea population calabyi has been proposed to constitute a megasubspecies, but .. View all taxonomy...
Forms superspecies with T. aurantia, T. manusi, T. sororcula, T. nigrobrunnea and T. inexspectata. Some authors treat T. sororcula and T. manusi as conspecific with present species, and in past most of the above allospecies were lumped into present species. Race castanops often treated as separate species, but recent review of size and colour variation within S Australian populations supports inclusion within present species, at subspecific level. New Guinea population calabyi has been proposed to constitute a megasubspecies, but again differences do not seem sufficiently marked. Race galei sometimes merged with kimberli, as observed differences may not be consistent and few specimens have been used in analyses. Birds of SW Western Australia may merit separation as distinct race, due to significantly larger size, but more study needed; formerly separated in race perplexa. Cave-dwelling population of South Australia might be separable as race troughtoni, but remains very poorly known. Six subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- calabyi Mason, 1983 - S New Guinea, in S Trans-Fly region, from Merauke area to Tarara and Daru I.
- melvillensis Mathews, 1912 - Melville I and Bathurst I (off N Australia).
- galei Mathews, 1914 - NE Cape York Peninsula in NE Queensland, from Pascoe R to Chester R.
- calabyi Mason, 1983 - S New Guinea, in S Trans-Fly region, from Merauke area to Tarara and Daru I.
- melvillensis Mathews, 1912 - Melville I and Bathurst I (off N Australia).
- galei Mathews, 1914 - NE Cape York Peninsula in NE Queensland, from Pascoe R to Chester R.
- kimberli Mathews, 1912 - N Australia from Yampi Peninsula E to S Cape York Peninsula and Atherton Tablelands.
- novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) - SW Western Australia E to Victoria and N to NE Queensland (Townsville), mainly in discontinuous and coastal distribution, but also scattered inland records, mostly from E Australia.
- castanops (Gould, 1837) - Tasmania and Maria I; also Maatsuyker I, where perhaps only vagrant.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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Two young birds coming out of the nesting hole Locality Julatten, Queensland, Australia
Eldert Groenewoud 22 July 2009 2 years ago 35 sec 4
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Two young birds in the nesting hole
Locality Julatten, Queensland, Australia
Eldert Groenewoud 22 July 2009 2 years ago 3
- No sound recordings available yet
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