The lesser sooty owl (''Tyto multipunctata'') is an

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

that lives in the wet tropics region of Australia. It is sometimes considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the

greater sooty owl The greater sooty owl (''Tyto tenebricosa'') is a medium to large owl found in south-eastern Australia, Montane rainforests of New Guinea and have been seen on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait. The lesser sooty owl (''T. multipunctata''), i ...

, ''Tyto tenebricosa'', by some authors. The birds are then together commonly referred to as sooty owl. Like other

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

, the female () is bigger than the male (). 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 Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

populations.

Diet

They feed mostly on animals like

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

s and rodents such as

rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

, but occasionally eat arboreal animals like birds and

squirrel glider The squirrel glider (''Petaurus norfolcensis'') is a nocturnal gliding possum. The squirrel glider is one of the wrist-winged gliders of the genus '' Petaurus''. Habitat This species' home range extends from Bordertown near the South Australia ...

s. Lesser sooty owls live long and have low production rates with a

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...

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.P. J. Higgins (Hrsg): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Bird, Band 4, Parrots to Dollarbird, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999,

References

Wildlife-australia.com

External links

lesser sooty owl The lesser sooty owl (''Tyto multipunctata'') is an owl that lives in the wet tropics region of Australia. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the greater sooty owl, ''Tyto tenebricosa'', by some authors. The birds are then together commo ...

Birds of Queensland Endemic birds of Australia

{{Strigiformes-stub