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Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) Alternate name(s): "Great Srub Owl" Size: 60-65 cm; wing span: 1.1-1.4 m Body mass: 1.15-1.7 kg (male); 1.05-1.6 kg (female) Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.30 (overall)

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Powerful Owls are the largest owls in Australia. Their back is primarily dark-brown, with lighter barring. The head is also primarily dark-brown, with grey streaking. The front is mostly light-grey, patterned with dark-brown chevrons. The most prominent feature of Powerful Owls are their striking eyes with yellow irises. The bill is grey, the feet are greyish-yellow. Powerful Owls do not have a prominent facial mask. Juveniles have a back that is similar to adult birds, although the tail is shorter, while their front is primarily white, with some dark-brown streaking. They have dark-brown patches around the eyes.

Taxonomy, classification See Powerful Owl at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Powerful Owl is available HERE . Powerful Owls are endemic to the Australian continent. They populate a wide band spanning the South and East coast of Australia, usually up to about 200 km inland (thus including large parts of the Great Dividing Range). Their distribution ranges from the South coast near the VIC/SA border in the South to the tropic of Capricorn on the QLD coast, near Yeppoon, in the North. Apart from a report from the Murrumbidgee River, there is only one area where Powerful Owls systematically go beyond the eastern coastal fringe and the Great Dividing Range: They cross over to the western side only from the Upper Hunter, over the lowest water shed (750 m) towards the area of Mudgee, Coolah and Coonabarabran, where they are found infrequently. Powerful Owls have a preference for tall open forest and woodland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information C. Charles reports spotting Powerful Owls regularly at Chatswood, Sydney, NSW. At least one Powerful Owl is known to permanently reside in Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW. It was first spotted by us there in June 2015. B. Hensen's help with these observations is greatly appreciated. In the winter of 2018 a pair nested at the same location and in August 2018 a fledgling was found by B. Hensen. The same family was observed again in October 2018 and January 2019. H. Mouristen has also spotted a Powerful Owl near Sydney in January 2011. R. Druce reports spotting a Powerful Owl at Coolah Tops NP in January 2018. M. Eaton reports spotting a Powerful Owl at Whites Hill Reserve, Brisbane, QLD, in March 2019. T. Froia-Drummond found a Powerful Owl in Pomona, QLD, in August 2022.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up portrait of an adult Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Chatswood, NSW, January 2012]

Frontal view of a Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Chatswood, NSW, January 2012]

Near-frontal view of a Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of H. Mouritsen)
[Near Sydney, NSW, January 2011]

Near-lateral view of a Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of H. Mouritsen)
[Near Sydney, NSW, January 2011]

Near-lateral view of a Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Coolah Tops NP, NSW, January 2018]

Lateral view of a Powerful Owl on a low roost (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Whites Hill Reserve, Brisbane, QLD, March 2019]

Close-up dorsal view of an adult Powerful Owl looking back over its shoulder (photo courtesy of H. Mouritsen)
[Near Sydney, NSW, January 2011]

"A burp or a yawn?"... (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Sydney, NSW, March 2016]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal/ventral view of an immature Powerful Owl; note the barring on the body indicative of adult plumage, but the still partly white head (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]

Adult, left, and immature Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]

Powerful Owl with a juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, October 2018]

8-week old Powerful Owl chick practicing its wing beat; together with its sibling, the chick fledged the following night (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Chatswood, NSW, August 2010]

Near-frontal view of a fledgling Powerful Owl (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, August 2018]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Apr - Sep

Eggs: 1 - 2

Incubation period: 36 - 38 days

Fledging age: ca. 56 days

Nest building: Male

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Male & female

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Tree hollow

Material: Wood dust

Height above ground: >10(?) m

Powerful Owls need large hollows and therefore require massive, old trees for nesting.

From its exertions, while sitting in the opening of the nest hollow, this Powerful Owl chick became a bit drowzy...
(photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Chatswood, NSW, August 2010]

... and finally fell asleep (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Chatswood, NSW, August 2010]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 54 x 45 mm

Colour: White

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair

Food, Diet

Powerful Owls are known to take prey as big as small mammals, for example possums.

Powerful Owl with its prey, a flying fox (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, October 2018]

Frontal view of a Powerful Owl holding the remnants of a possum; the bird's partner, which had been seen in the same area before, was not seen by us, making it possible that the bird is holding on to its prey to feed its nesting partner
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, June 2015]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

powrowl_tt_20210510.m4a	(SE QLD)	Contact calls	© TT
powrowl_tfd_20220820.mp3	(SE QLD)	Contact calls	© TFD

More Powerful Owl sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.