Lesser sooty owl

The lesser sooty owl (Tyto multipunctata) is an owl that lives in the wet tropics region of Australia.[2] It is sometimes considered conspecific with the greater sooty owl, Tyto tenebricosa, by some authors. The birds are then together commonly referred to as sooty owl. Like other birds of prey, the female (37 centimetres or 15 inches) is bigger than the male (33 cm or 13 in). The lesser sooty owl is part of the masked group of owls: an important part of the environment because they are efficient predators that keep down rodent populations.

Lesser sooty owl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Tytonidae
Genus: Tyto
Species:
T. multipunctata
Binomial name
Tyto multipunctata
Mathews, 1912

Diet

They feed mostly on animals like bandicoots and rodents such as rats, but occasionally eat arboreal animals like birds and squirrel gliders.[3] Lesser sooty owls live long and have low production rates with a breeding season from January to August. They are classified as common even though they have a limited habitat range. Lesser sooty owls are protected animals under Australian law.[4]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Tyto multipunctata". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2016: e.T22688435A93197565. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22688435A93197565.en. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. Hollands, David. 1991. "Birds of the Night". Reed Books
  3. Claus König, Friedhelm Weick: Owls of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2
  4. P. J. Higgins (Hrsg): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Bird, Band 4, Parrots to Dollarbird, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999, ISBN 0195530713


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