Rufous Owl (Ninox rufa) [XC327177]
by Marc Anderson from Holmes, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Rufous Owl (Ninox rufa) [XC759162]
by Zebedee Muller from Kuranda, Mareeba Shire, Queensland, Australia (call)
Nest
In a hollow in a tree, from 5 - 30 m above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 sometimes 1; creamy white; rounded; about 50 - 55 x 45 - 50 mm. Incubation: 36 - 38 days; by female. Eggs are laid at two - three day intervals.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 42 - 56 days.
Subspecies
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua). Subspecies require revision: meesi possibly only a pale morph of queenslandica. Aru population sometimes separated as aruensis, but apparently indistinguishable from humeralis. Species has even been suggested as being monotypic.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
rufa (Gould, 1846) - Western and northern Kimberley Divide, WA and northern NT.
meesi Mason, IJ & Schodde, 1980 - Cape York Peninsula.
queenslandica Mathews, 1911 - North-eastern Qld, south from about Endeavour River to about Mackay.
humeralis (Bonaparte, 1850) - New Guinea and Waigeu Island.
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