13

Greater Sooty Owls are the largest of the Tyto owls in Australia. They are dark, sooty grey, with a prominent, heart-shaped facial mask. The face is mid-grey, while the fringe of the facial mask is dark-grey. Front, back and upperwings are dark sooty grey, with tiny silvery-grey spots. The short, sturdy legs are feathered mid-grey, with faint darker grey rings. The irises are black. The bill is light-grey, the talons are dark-grey.

Most authorities have now given the Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto multipunctata") full species status, separate from the Greater Sooty Owl.

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 Greater Sooty Owl is available HERE .

Greater Sooty Owls are found in West Papua, New Guinea and Australia.

In Australia, the Greater Sooty Owl occurs from just northward of Brisbane, QLD, along the South-east coastal and near-coastal fringe, all the way to Melbourne, VIC (except Wilson's Promontory). Their distribution along the coastal fringe of QLD is patchy, with a concentration in the tablelands around Cairns, but otherwise only small populations (e.g. near Mackay and in the Iron Ranges on Cape York peninsula).

Greater Sooty Owls are found in densely vegetated, tall wet forest (often in gullies).

We first spotted a Greater Sooty Owl in Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, in March 2016. A bird was seen again on the same roost in June 2017.

M. Eaton reports finding the same Greater Sooty Owl in Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, in June 2017 and again in March 2018.

M. Eaton also found a Greater Sooty Owl in D'Aguilar NP, near Mount Mee, QLD, in December 2019.