Trying to Sleep – the Barking Owl (Ninox connivens)

This beautiful Barking Owl was trying to have a sleep in one of our tree’s next to the Lagoon.  At Parry’s last year we had a pair raise their young in the huge Mango tree that is next to the Accommodation Rooms.  What a treat for us that got to see that!

Although fairly common throughout much of northern Australia, the Barking Owl has been affected by the clearing of woodlands in the south and is considered ‘vulnerable’ in NSW and is now endangered in Victoria.

Many people that visit this area have never heard the call of a Barking Owl. The distinct sound of ‘grr woof-woof, grr woof-woof is very much like that of a dog. Male and female often duet with the male making the lower-pitched call and the female the higher notes.

What’s very different about this owl is that it has next to no facial mask; which we tend to associate with the Owl.  But its flight and tail feathers certainly give the Barking Owl a stunning look.

Always a wonderful sight to see here at Parry Creek Farm.