Rufous Owl:

The rufous owl lives in rainforests, wet dense forested areas and the surrounding woodlands. During the day it roosts in leafy trees. A rufous owl has a dark rufous colored forehead, crown, nape, back and upper wings. There is also a fine light brown barring on these areas. There are broader bars on the upper tail. The face is a blackish brown and the neck, breast and under part is rufous with fine cream bars. The undersides of the wings are light brown with broad cream bars. The male birds are larger than the females and have flatter and broader heads. Young owls are downy and much smaller in size. Young adult birds have broad bars and a dark sepia color.

Rufous owls tend to have a shy nature and are essentially elusive birds. They are nocturnal birds and very protective of their nests, which they will aggressively defend. They are not very vocal and mostly do not emit any calls outside of the breeding season. The pairs of owls may chatter very softly while roosting. The call these owls most commonly emit is a double hooting which has a deep pitch and is similar to the powerful owl’s call. It is however less powerful and more nasal. The call of the female birds is higher pitched. Rufous owls hunt powerfully and feed on a variety of prey such as beetles, birds and even flying foxes. Other examples of their prey include blue-winged kookaburras, white cockatoo, scrubfowl, herons, ducks, parrots and even crayfish. These owls are able to catch their prey in a variety of ways. Scrubfowls may be taken from their perches, phasmids may be snatched during flight, flying foxes may be hunted aerially and crayfish may be taken from flowing flood water.

The breeding season of the rufous owl is very regular and the females tend to lay their eggs at the same time each year. If there are still young birds in the nest from the previous breeding season, the adult birds may not nest during the present season. The birds begin to roost closely with each other when nesting time approaches. Both, male and female birds may become very aggressive towards humans if they perceive a threat to their nest. Nests are usually hollows in the tree limbs or trunks. The incubation of the eggs last for 37 days. The young owls stay dependent on the parents for many months, sometimes even until the next breeding season.