Habitat
Tall old-growth montane forests, including rainforest in moist sheltered gullies surrounded by sclerophyll forests, tall open wet sclerophyll forests.
Habits
Singly or in pairs, occasionally family groups.
Food
Mammals (mainly possums and gliders), less often birds, reptiles and insects.
Voice
A weird, far-carrying, descending strident or mellow whistle, like the sound of a falling bomb, uttered at intervals. Also descending, rolling, cricket-like chirrruping trills.
Greater Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa) [XC312089]
by Andrew Spencer from Bunyip State Park, Victoria, Australia (call)
Greater Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa) [XC536955]
by Andrew Spencer from Whian Whian, Lismore City Council, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
April - June, but also Fall and Spring.
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Nest
In a hollow of a tree, mainly eucalypts, usually high up.
Eggs (Guide)
1, usually 2; pure white; ellipsoidal; about 45 - 50 x 35 - 40 mm. Incubation: about 42 days; by female. Eggs are laid at four night intervals.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 84 days.
Subspecies
Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa) and Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto multipunctata) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993, Christidis and Boles 1994) have been lumped into Tyto tenebricosa following Norman et al. (2002) and Christidis and Boles (2008).
Forms superspecies with Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto multipunctata), and until 1981 treated as conspecific.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
tenebricosa (Gould, 1845) - South-eastern Australia from south-eastern Qld, through New South Wales and Vic. to SA.
arfaki (Schlegel, 1879) - New Guinea and Yapen Island.
multipunctata Mathews, 1912 - North-eastern Queensland (Australia). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto multipunctata).
Similar Species
Lesser Sooty Owl (Tyto multipunctata) which is smaller, has more and coarser white spotting on the wings and is lighter below with clear chevron pattern, but currently their range is distinct but new populations are being discovered, and Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) especially when strongly illuminated from below.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet