Northern












Masked












Owl

The Northern Masked Owl is one of Australia’s least-studied nocturnal raptors, and extremely elusive. They occur in three potentially isolated populations across Northern Australia: in Cape York, the Top End and the Kimberley. They are a species of mature, often tall woodland, and hunt for mammals along the edges of clearings, or where the ground cover within a woodland is sparse. The species is in apparent decline, and is listed federally as Vulnerable.

This research aims to investigate (1) methods for better detecting the Northern Masked Owl through understanding calling behaviour, habitat and landscape use, (2) determining their primary threatening processes, and (3)  taxonomic clarification of the Northern Masked Owl complex.

Our Northern Masked Owl research is in partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and has been the recipient of Birds Queensland and BirdLife North Queensland research grants.