City life a hoot for Powerful Owl

A Powerful Owl, one of the rarest birds in Australia, is currently calling the CBD its new home.

The vulnerable bird of prey has migrated from its usual forest and woodland habitat for a slice of city life, taking up residence in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden.

“It’s very exciting that an impressive bird like the Powerful Owl can survive in the inner city,” City of Sydney Ecology Manager Katie Oxenham said.

Ms Oxenham said the sighting was unusual because Powerful Owls tended to stick to leafy suburbs and bushland .

“It’s sort of unusual that this one is here in the city really,” she said. “I think it’s a really good example of how wildlife can survive in such an urbanised area.”

The Powerful Owl is considered a vulnerable species in NSW with Birds Australia predicting only 20-30 nesting pairs left in the Sydney region.

Birds of Backyards is conducting a survey to understand how Powerful Owls are coping.

National Program Manager of Birds in Backyards, Holly Parsons, said: “We’re trying to really get an idea of how these guys are
coping, where their nest sights are and what’s going on at the nest sites.”

Standing at almost 60 centimetres in height, the Power Owl is Australia’s largest owl and requires particularly large tree hollows to nest
in.

“The situation is they’re big birds that use large hollows,” said the Royal Botanic Garden’s Wildlife Management Officer, John Martin.

“But those hollows only occur in large old trees that are over 100 years old.”

Mr Martin said old trees like that are hard to come by because they pose safety risks to the public and are often cut down or pruned.

To combat this problem and encourage breeding opportunities, Mr Martin said the Royal Botanic Gardens would build a nesting box for the Powerful Owl.

This is particularly important as there have been reports of a second owl in the area.