birding-aus

Observations of Powerful Owls, Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne

To: Lawrie Conole <>
Subject: Observations of Powerful Owls, Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne
From: Brian Fleming <>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 10:51:13 +1000
Lawrie Conole wrote:
> 
> Laurie Living wrote:
> 
> > Now while this might seem like 'meals on wheels' brought right to
> the
> > door, it seems that brushies are not as much of a treat as gliders
> or
> > ring-tailed possums and I have seldom seen them in the clutches of
> > daily roosting Powerful Owls. And perhaps the owl had just been
> > satisfied with some better food [and sex] from the male. Any
> comment?
> 
> Hi Laurie
> 
> In the Brisbane Ranges west of Melbourne, Powerful Owls have been seen
> to grab the odd young Koala ("young on back" sized morsel).  So I
> think
> brushies are well within the target culinary range, but no doubt
> something of a handful if not taken by surprise.  The other matter is
> that brushies are known nestling/egg predators, so the owl may have
> been
> seeing off what it saw as a potential threat to its young - as opposed
> to lunch turned down!
> 
> Lawrie
> 
> --
> =================================
> Lawrie Conole
> Senior Ecologist
> Ornithology & Terrestrial Ecology
> 
> Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
> Flora and Fauna Consultants
> 88B Station Street
> FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
> E-mail: 
> Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
> Ph: (03) 9489 4191; Mob: (0419) 588 993
> Fax: (03) 9481 7679
> ABN 83 006 757 142
>
Thanks Lawrie 
John Gould's Powerful Owl print shows it grasping a young Koala, though
he admitted that he hadn't actually seen it with Koala prey. He thought
it was perfectly likely given habitat etc. I'm interested to see that he
was quite right.
Anthea Fleming

Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU