Range

Barking owls can be found across Australia and on the island of New Guinea where they inhabit both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinea portions of the island.

In Australia they are distributed widely around the coastline avoiding only the central areas of the continent.

Habitat

They make their home in forests, savannas, shrublands and wetlands.

Barking owls are tolerant of some level of habitat disruption and may inhabit forest fragments or cleared farmland areas.

Reproduction

Breeding takes place from August to October with some variation between pairs and over the years. Pairs remain together for life unless one partner passes away.

Nesting takes place in a tree hollow which will be lined with sticks and wood debris. Two to three eggs will be deposited in to the nest and incubated by the female for 36 days. She will be provided food by the male.

The chicks will spend 45 days in the nest after hatching and rely on their parents to bring them food.

After they fledge they will often remain with the parents until a few months prior to the next breeding season.

Behavior

The barking owl is known for its distinctive ‘wook, wook’ call which resembles that of a dog. This call is typically made before dusk. Their second call resembles a human scream.

Like most owls the barking owl is nocturnal though they have been known to remain active around dawn and dusk when it is light outside and they will take these opportunities to hunt birds.

Predators and Threats

Nestlings face predation from goannas and brush-tailed possums.

Barking owls face predation from introduced species such as the red fox.

A range of threats have led to them declining across much of their range. They will only breed in tree hollows which are increasingly rare. These may be cut down with a new suitable hollow taking 150-200 years to form. Hollows are also inhabited by non-native European honeybees.

Their prey species are also diminishing as a result of the loss of tree hollows. Further to this they face competition from introduced foxes and cats for these food sources.

Some populations have begun to replace native prey with introduced rabbits and as control measures for these are carried out they lose a valuable food source.

Humans affect their population through secondary poisoning from their food items, getting caught in barbed wire fences and vehicle collisions.

Quick facts

Their call has earned them the nickname, ‘screaming-woman bird.’ They may also be called the winking owl.