Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum but just wondering if someone can positively confirm that this is a Southern Boobook Owl for me. Sorry it is a terrible photo.
This little guy moved in over summer and well I'm hoping that someone can give me some advice on whether I can somehow encourage him to move to another tree (this one is losing all it's leaves) or if that will make him move away.
Unfortunately this tree is marked for removal as it is a willow and prone to termites and as it is at the edge of our backyard in our vegie garden we were hoping to get rid of it. We have many other native trees this little guy could move into if he was so inclined however we don't want him to permanently move away. We love having him in the garden.
Is it possible that he could self relocate to another tree on our property? Could we put up some kind of nesting box to entice him into? And finally how can we tell if he is a male or female? The childen love him and have been calling him Bob as we assume he is a male although we could be wrong!
Welcome to the forum, samara.jp. It's great to read posts from curious people (that is, people who demonstrate curiosity!) such as yourself.
That owl looks like a Southern Boobook Owl to me but others who are more owl-familiar than I might have different opinions. Without intense examination I don't think there's any way of distinguishing between males & females of the species.
Your owl will, of course, move to another tree when you remove the willow but the luck of the draw will determine if it moves to a tree in your garden. You've maximized the chances of it doing so by planting native trees, especially if they're indigenous to your area. Should you have lots of native ground covers providing shelter for creatures which would provide the owl with tucker then your chances of the owl remaining in your garden are further increased. Putting up a nesting box will also enhance the chances of it using your garden, especially in breeding season. Just ensure that feral birds like the Common Starling & Common Mynah don't set up shop in the nest box. If they do politely remove the nesting material & avoid leaving around anything which might resemble nesting material to a Starling or Mynah, especially the latter which uses people's junk.
Just a note: when requesting identifications it's always helpful to say in what part of our great nation you've seen your bird.
Yes a Southern Boobook. Females tend to be larger than males but you'd need both side by side to have any chance of distinguishing between them. I'm sure "Bob" will do
Many thanks for both your replies.
I should have said that I am located close to the Wellsford Forest just outside Bendigo. And I am pleased to say we have many beautiful native birds that call our place home. My favourites are the honey eaters and the Flame Robbins that pay me a visit around this time every year.
Over the past few years we have started to replace the old willows with natives and last year planted a hundred native trees indigenous to our area. We already have several honey eaters nesting in our established Grevilleas and my two children made me plant some Whirrake Wattle and Golden Wattle as well. They are hoping the Swift Parrot will drop in.
Unfortunately we do have a lot of Mynahs and Starlings that also frequent our garden so I will be mindful when we put a nest up for Bob and keep an eye on it.
And hopefully if he moves in we can than get rid of the willow.
Ah, samara.jp, my heart beat a little faster when I read that you've planted indigenous trees on your property. I hope you'll share more stories of progress on your property.
To the best of my knowledge, there is barely sufficient size difference in the small ninox owls, shuch as boobooks to tell sexes apart. If anything, the females may be about 2-3% larger (this was just verified by a researcher friend of mine via a phone call).
Powerful Owls, and the larger ninox owls have the opposite, meaning the male is larger than the female.