Lesser sooty owl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lesser sooty owl |
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Tyto
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| Species: |
multipunctata
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The lesser sooty owl (Tyto multipunctata) is a cool, medium-sized owl that lives only in the wet rainforests of Australia. It's a type of barn owl. This owl looks different from its cousin, the greater sooty owl, because it has darker feathers, more spots, and a higher-pitched call. You can find the lesser sooty owl in a small area of northeastern Australia, usually hiding in dark, safe spots in the rainforest.
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About the Lesser Sooty Owl
The lesser sooty owl is an owl that hunts at night. It has dark gray feathers with cool white speckles. Its face looks like a heart and is two colors, with a light-colored beak. These owls are about 32–38 cm tall. Female owls are usually bigger and more protective than males.
These owls are "habitat specialists." This means they need a very specific type of home to survive. When it comes to food, they are "generalists." This means they eat many different kinds of prey. Sooty owls are hard to spot because they live in dark, thick forests. They are the third largest forest owl in Australia. The Powerful owl and the Rufous owl are bigger. Lesser sooty owls are very protective of their space. They make a loud whistle to tell other animals to stay away. These owls are sensitive to changes in their home because there are not many of them. They also lay only a few eggs at a time.
Owl Families and the Sooty Owl
Owls are split into two main families: Strigidae (like hawk owls) and Tytonidae (like masked owls). The lesser sooty owl belongs to the Tytonidae family. This family also includes the barn owl and grass owl.
Why it's a Masked Owl
The lesser sooty owl is called a masked owl because of the mask-like shape of the feathers around its face. This special face helps the owl hear sounds much better. Owls in the Tytonidae family, like the lesser sooty owl, have a longer and thinner skull than owls in the Strigidae family.
Is it a Separate Species?
Some scientists think the lesser sooty owl (Tyto multipunctata) is its own species. They point to differences in size, calls, and feather color. The lesser sooty owl is smaller and lighter in color than the greater sooty owl. However, other scientists believe they are just different types of the same species. They see them as "sister subspecies" of the Sooty owl.
Where Lesser Sooty Owls Live
The lesser sooty owl lives only in the wet tropical parts of Australia. It has a small home range and is spread out. This owl lives only in wet eucalyptus forests near the coast of northeastern Queensland, Australia. You often find them north of the Great Dividing Range. Each owl usually uses an area of about 200-800 hectares.
Preferred Homes
Lesser sooty owls mostly live in old-growth forests. These are very old forests with deep tree hollows. They like to nest, hunt, and rest in quiet parts of the forest. They prefer areas near rivers and rainforest valleys. They stay away from open areas and like dark, cool, and sheltered spots. These owls often rest in thick leaves, vines, or inside hollows of big old trees. They also use caves and rocky cliffs.
Because they need these dense, wet forests, lesser sooty owls are "habitat specialists." They are the only owl in the Tytonidae family that lives deep inside the Wet Tropics of Queensland. Sooty owls choose these spots because many of the animals they eat also depend on these forest types.
Differences Between Male and Female Owls
Lesser sooty owls show "reversed sexual dimorphism." This is a fancy way of saying the female is larger than the male. In fact, they have the biggest size difference between sexes of any owl species in the world. Female sooty owls are 1.7 times heavier and 1.8 times larger than males. Females weigh 1000-1200 grams, while males weigh 550-700 grams. Female owls are 44–51 cm tall, and males are 37–43 cm.
Males and females also have different diets, behaviors, calls, and preferred home ranges. However, their feathers look exactly the same. Male owls usually have a larger home range (about 3025 hectares) than females (about 994 hectares).
Owl Behavior
Owl Calls and Sounds
Owls in the Tytonidae family are known for their screaming or screeching calls. The sooty owl has several different calls. Its main call is a high-pitched whistle followed by small squeaks. The scream sounds like a "falling-bomb whistle" and can be soft or harsh.
- Female's call: Longer, usually more than 2 seconds.
- Male's call: Less sharp, usually less than 1.5 seconds.
- Whistle: Can reach a very high sound of 7 kHz.
Another common call is the "trill." This is a shrill, creaking noise, like some insects make. Both male and female owls make this trilling call. It usually lasts more than 2 seconds and can reach 8.5 kHz. When they feel threatened, sooty owls let out a loud, raspy screech. This can sound like a slurred trill. A rare call is the "latter call," used by angry adult owls. Young owls make a prolonged, wheezy, grating sound when begging for food. Sooty owls often call with a few screams followed by a few trills.
Sooty owl calls are loud and can travel up to 1 km, depending on the area. Male and female owls often talk to each other throughout the night. Some pairs even "duet" to protect their territory. Sooty owls respond to each other's calls and even to calls from other owl species. Their high-pitched calls are perfect for their home. They are loud enough to cut through the thick plants of the rainforest.
Owls call most often at dusk and dawn, especially right after sunset when they leave their resting spots. They are most vocal on calm nights without rain. They do not call much during strong winds or heavy rain, as these conditions make it hard for sound to travel. They call more often during their breeding season.
What Sooty Owls Eat
The lesser sooty owl is a "generalist predator." This means it hunts many different kinds of prey in its home range. It mostly eats mammals that live in trees or on the ground.
- Common tree-dwelling prey: Sugar gliders and common ringtail possums.
- Main ground-dwelling prey: Bandicoots, rats, and marsupial mice (antechinus).
Lesser sooty owls also eat birds, reptiles, and insects, mostly beetles. They are "opportunistic feeders." This means they eat whatever food is available. Their diet can change a lot from one area to another, even over short distances.
Historically, sooty owls ate mostly ground mammals. But many of these animals are now gone from some areas. So, the owls have started eating more tree-dwelling mammals. Tree-dwelling prey now makes up a much larger part of their diet. More than half of their diet also includes animals brought in by humans, like the black rat and house mouse. They eat animals weighing from 10 to 1300 grams. Female owls eat larger prey than males. Females eat prey over 1000 grams, while males eat prey less than 500 grams. The main food for females is the greater glider, while for males it's the sugar glider.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Tyto owls often have irregular breeding patterns. They can breed at any time of the year, which is called "aseasonal breeding." However, they might breed more in spring when there is plenty of food. Breeding times vary, but owls generally breed from March to May. Nesting depends on things like rain and how much food is available. Lesser sooty owls have been seen nesting in trees like flooded gum, brush cherry, black bean, and fig trees.
These birds stay with one partner and take care of their young. Parents feed their young for more than 10 months. Females stay very close to the nest for 10 weeks or more during breeding. While the female sits on the eggs, the male brings food for her and the babies. Once the young owls can fly, both parents help feed them.
Sooty owl eggs are oval-shaped. They are about 4.45 to 5.39 cm long. They usually lay 1 or 2 eggs, which is fewer than many other owls. They only have one group of eggs per year. If a female lays more than one egg, she lays them about four days apart. Females sit on the eggs for 5–6 weeks. Young owls learn to fly after 2–3 months. They leave their parents after 6–8 months. Young owls get their dark feathers after 4 months. The newly independent owls fly 10–20 km away from their nest.
How Humans Study Sooty Owls
Scientists use lesser sooty owl "pellets" to study mammal communities. Owl pellets are compact balls of undigested food, like fur, bones, and feathers, that the owl spits up. Owls in the Tytonidae family often swallow their prey whole. This means most of the bones in the pellets are still in one piece. So, scientists can figure out exactly what animals the owl ate. This method works better than trying to trap and count mammals.
Threats to Sooty Owls
The lesser sooty owl faces many dangers. These include losing their homes due to logging, farming, city growth, tourism, mining, and tree farms. Climate change and attacks from pet and wild animals also threaten them. Even though the sooty owl is currently not considered highly endangered, these activities can make them disappear from local areas.
These birds are very sensitive to changes because they need specific homes. They rely heavily on old-growth forests. Many of the animals they eat also need these forests to survive. Logging and clear-cutting often remove old, hollow trees and other parts of the forest that owls need for hunting and nesting.
Sooty owls avoid areas where a lot of logging happens. Even small patches of forest left in farm areas are not good enough for these birds. So, broken-up habitats smaller than 200 hectares are not suitable for them. Sooty owls are considered the most sensitive to poor forest management in southeastern Australia. They only gather in large forest reserves near streams.
Human activity and city growth also harm sooty owls. Owls can be hit by cars or disturbed by noise from vehicles. Pet animals like dogs and cats can also kill forest owls. Sooty owls will leave their resting and nesting spots if humans disturb them.
Climate change is another big threat. If the global temperature rises by just 1 °C, 10 to 16% of mammals in Australia's wet tropics could disappear. More than half of their home could become unsuitable. Rare animals that the owl eats could become extinct. A 3.5 °C rise could lead to the near extinction of 60 to 80% of native mammals in this region.
Protecting Sooty Owls
In New South Wales, Australia, the sooty owl is listed as "vulnerable" under a special law. However, the lesser sooty owl and other large forest owls in Australia are not listed under a national law. Only Victoria and New South Wales have plans to protect large forest owls on public land.
Conservation Efforts
In Victoria, 100 areas of 500-800 hectares have been set aside to protect large forest owls. These include the powerful owl, sooty owl, and masked owl. The goal is to keep sooty owl populations healthy by having 500 management locations on public land.
Between 1990 and 1997, New South Wales protected old, hollow trees in logged areas. This was to help sooty owls and their prey. The state strictly protected forest areas where owls nested, hunted, and rested. These efforts are part of managing forests for logging and wood production.
New South Wales and Victoria have created over 100 national parks to help large forest owls, including the lesser sooty owl, and the animals they eat. Both states continue to work on preserving old-growth forests in Australia.
Governments also need to do more to protect forests on private land. Current efforts there are much less than on public land. Conservation plans need to protect many forested areas that are at least as large as a male sooty owl's home range. There is still discussion about how big these protected areas need to be. States also need to control wild predators like foxes. This would help sooty owls get more food. If sooty owls have more types of prey, they will compete less and breed more successfully.
