mdahlem.net WWW

Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14	15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y

13

Rufous Owl (Ninox rufa) Alternate name(s): "Rufous Boobook" Size: 45-55 cm Weight: 0.7-1.7 kg

Australia: Family Group 13 Family Group 13 Table Oriental Cuckoo Pallid Cuckoo Brush Cuckoo Black-eared Cuckoo Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo Fan-tailed Cuckoo Horsefield's Bronze-Cuckoo Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Little Bronze-Cuckoo Australian Koel Channel-billed Cuckoo Pheasant Coucal Rufous Owl Powerful Owl Barking Owl Southern Boobook Eastern Barn Owl Eastern Grass Owl Sooty Owl Marbled Frogmouth Tawny Frogmouth Papuan Frogmouth White-throated Nightjar Spotted Nightjar Large-tailed Nightjar Australian Owlet-nightjar Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Thumbnails page Birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Rufous Owls are large owls. Unlike many other species of bird of prey, in Rufous Owls the male is bigger and heavier than the female. The back of both sexes is dark-brown, with lighter barring. The front is rufous-brown, with lighter barring. They have a dark-grey facial mask, with a white throat and whitish frons and prominent, yellow eyes. The undertail is barred light-grey. Like those of several other Australian owl species, their wings have an off-white patch on the leading edge. The bill is light-grey, the legs and feet are yellowish.

Taxonomy, classification See Rufous 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 based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Rufous Owl is available HERE . Rufous Owls, apart from Australia, are also found in West Papua (Indonesia) and New Guinea. The three races of Rufous Owl found in Australia are all endemic to the continent. Nominate race "rufa" is found along the tropical coast of far-northern WA, eastward of about Derby, WA, and the Top End the NT, including Arnhemland. Race "meesi" is found on Cape York peninsula (except its southern central part), whereas race "queenslandica" is found only along the QLD East coast, from about Cooktown in the North to Rockhampton in the South. Rufous Owls have a preference for closed forest and other dense vegetation.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "rufa" B. Hensen reports spotting a Rufous Owl, race "rufa", in the Darwin, NT, Botanical Garden in April 2005 and again in July 2017 and July 2018. In October 2018 they were found there with a juvenile in tow. H. Mouritsen spotted a Rufous Owl, race "rufa", in the Darwin, NT, Botanical Garden in October 2015. P. Brown reports finding a pair of Rufous Owls, race "rufa", in the Darwin, NT, Botanical Garden in May 2018 and again in July 2018. They were also found at Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, in December 2018, and at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, in April 2020.

Photos

Race "rufa"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a Rufous Owl; this bird is taller than the partner it was seen with
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, December 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, December 2018]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a Rufous Owl with its prey, a possum; this bird was smaller than the partner it was seen with
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, December 2018]

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Rufous Owls taking an interest in the photographer - the male, on the left, is slightly smaller than the female; these are the birds whose calls were recorded on 15 April 2020 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Below a sound recording of the alarms of other bird species caused by the pair of Rufous Owls shown above.

alarm_pb_20200411.m4a

(Darwin, NT)

Alarm calls (various species)

© PB

Frontal/ventral view of a pair of Rufous Owls (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Dorsal view of a pair of Rufous Owls (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Dorsal view of a pair of Rufous Owls; note how they look grey, rather than rufous, when deep in shade
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, July 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a Rufous Owl in captivity (photo courtesy of J. Thurmer)

Frontal view of a Rufous Owl in captivity now with its head turned (photo courtesy of J. Thurmer)

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Adult Rufous Owl with a juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Frontal view of a juvenile Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Rufous Owl (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Garden, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Food, Diet

Frontal view of a female Rufous Owl with its prey, a flying fox (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Near-lateral view of a female Rufous Owl with its prey, a flying fox (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2020]

Lateral view of a female Rufous Owl with its prey, a possum (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, December 2018]

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.

rufowl_pb_20200415.m4a	rufa (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls	© PB
rufowl_pb_20200415_2.m4a	rufa (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls	© PB
rufowl_pb_20200415_3.m4a	rufa (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls, plus surroundings	© PB

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.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us:          Last updated: Wed, 29 April 2020, 15:04 -05:00