Subspecies Ninox (Rhabdoglaux) rufa queenslandica Mathews, 1911

Museums

Regional Maps

• Ninox humeralis queenslandica Mathews, G.M. 1911. In Proceedings of meeting of British Ornithologists' Club, Feb. 8, 1911. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 27: 62 [62] [holotype figured on pl. 266 and described in detail on p. 351 in Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pt 3 pp. 249–352 pls 255–266 [23 May 1916 Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.]].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 630260 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 6119), The Hollows, Mackay, QLD
  Comment: for holotype identification and locality details, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.
• Ninox rufa marginata Mees, G.F. 1964. A revision of the Australian owls (Strigidae and Tytonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 65: 1-62 [8].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV ♂ adult (H.L. White coll. no. 5301), Cardwell, QLD.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Mason, I.J. & Schodde, R. 1980. Subspeciation in the Rufous Owl, Ninox rufa (Gould). The Emu 80: 141-144 [142-143]

 

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Coastal and subcoastal NE QLD, north to about Endeavour River, south to Sarina and Connors Range, and inland to Atherton Tableland (Mareeba), upper Burdekin River catchment and Clarke Range, 0–1000 m altitude, without gaps through lower Burdekin River drainage—record from Rockhampton unconfirmed. Probably intergrades with N. r. meesi Mason & Schodde, 1980 northwards around Endeavour River.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, carnivorous, closed forest, nocturnal, open forest, predator, sedentary, tall forest, territorial, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, seasonal breeder, general carnivore, permanently paired in rainforest and gallery vine forest, roosts arboreally by day in forest canopy, hunts by night in perch-and-pounce sallies through more open eucalypt and Melaleuca forest, nests on beds of decayed wood in high tree hollows, female alone broods.

 

General References

Barnard, H.G. 1926. Birds of the Cardwell District, Queensland, Pt 1. The Emu 26: 1-13 (behaviour, nidification)

Fleay, D. 1968. Nightwatchmen of Bush and Plain. Australian owls and owl-like birds. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press 163 pp. (behaviour, nidification)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)