Subspecies Tyto novaehollandiae novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Strix novaehollandiae Stephens, J.F. 1826. In, General Zoology or Systematic Natural History, commenced by the late George Shaw, M.D.F.R.S. & C. Aves. London : J. & A. Arch etc. Vol. XIII Pt II 290 pp. pls 31-63. [published Feb. 1826, publication dated 1825, 1826] [61] [as St? Novaehollandiae; based on the Mouse Owl in Latham, J. 1821. A General History of Birds. Winchester : J. Latham Vol. I xxxii 375 pp. 17 pls (358), in turn based possibly on Thomas Watling drawing no. 23 in BMNH, now missing, see Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pt 4 pp. 353–440 + xi pls 267–274 [30 Aug. 1916] (382), cf. Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2. (112)].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown (lost, possibly figured on Thomas Watling drawing no. 23 in BMNH, now missing), New South Wales (as New Holland).

  Type locality references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912].
• Strix personata Vigors, N.A. 1831. In Proceedings of meeting of Zoological Society of London, April 12, 1831. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1830–31: 60 [publication dated as 1830–1831] [60] [junior homonym of Strix personata Daudin, 1800 (=Pulsatrix perspicillata (Latham, 1790), Strigidae); based on two live birds then in captivity in the Zoological Gardens, London, but evidently not preserved—not cited as in BMNH by Sharpe, R.B. 1875. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Striges, or Nocturnal Birds of Prey. London : British Museum Vol. 2 xi 325 pp. XIV pls (304), nor by Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp.; syntype possibly illustrated as fig. 1 (face) on pl. 51 in Gould, J. 1838. A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould 73 pls 8 pp. [Pt 3, published Apr. 1838, publication dated as 1837-1838]].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (lost), New South Wales (as Australia).

  Type locality references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] (cf. Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pts 2–4 pp. 153–440 pls 245–274 [May 1916, publication dated as 1915–1916] [383]).
• Strix cyclops Gould, J. 1837. In Proceedings of meeting of Zoological Society of London, Dec. 13, 1836. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836: 139-140 [published June 1837, publication dated 1836] [140] [as Cyclops; type possibly illustrated as fig. 2 (face) on pl. 52 in Gould, J. 1838. A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould 73 pls 8 pp. [Pt 3, published Apr. 1838, publication dated as 1837-1838]; ANSP 2742 cited as type by Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180, but selection rejected by Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246—this specimen is the male illustrated on plate 29 in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 1 cii 13 pp. 36 pls, see data in Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246, and may well have been obtained after publication of Stryx cyclops Gould, 1837 in the years between 1837 and mid 1840s; Athene leucopsis 'Mathews, 1912' (=Gould, 1838) introduced as replacement name by Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp., drawn from incorrect presumption of nomina nuda in Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additional notes. Austral Avian Records 1: 127–128—but Athene leucopsis Gould, 1838 = Ninox boobook leucopsis (Gould, 1838), q.v.].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost), New South Wales (as Novâ Cambriâ Australi).
• Tyto novaehollandiae perplexa Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [257].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 6294440 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 4484), East Beverley, WA
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Mees, G.F. 1964. A revision of the Australian owls (Strigidae and Tytonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 65: 1–62 (43); 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.
• Tyto novaehollandiae mackayi Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [34] [as Tyto novae-hollandiae mackayi; published anonymously—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 629451 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 6400), Mackay, QLD
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Mees, G.F. 1964. A revision of the Australian owls (Strigidae and Tytonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 65: 1–62 (45); 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.
• Tyto novaehollandiae whitei Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [34] [as Tyto novae-hollandiae whitei; published anonymously—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 629456 unsexed (=♂)* (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 913), Adelaide, SA
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Mees, G.F. 1964. A revision of the Australian owls (Strigidae and Tytonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 65: 1–62 (43); 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.
• Tyto novaehollandiae riordani Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [35] [as Tyto novae-hollandiae riordani; published anonymously—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65; holotype figured on pl. 272 and described in detail on pp. 374–375 in Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pt 4 pp. 353–440 + xi pls 267–274 [30 Aug. 1916]].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 629453 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 11104), Warrnambool, VIC (as Victoria (Warnambool))
  Comment: for identification of holotype, 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.
• Tyto longimembris dombraini Mathews, G.M. 1914. Additions and corrections to my List of the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 2(5): 83-107 [Date published 24 Sep 1914] [91] [misidentification with Tyto longimembris (Jerdon, 1839) corrected by Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pt 4 pp. 353–440 + xi pls 267–274 [30 Aug. 1916] (393–394); two syntypes recorded by 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, but Mathews' account in his The Birds of Australia (loc. cit.) shows that he based dombraini on only the male forwarded to him by E.A. D'Ombrain].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 629454 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), Casterton, VIC (as Victoria).

  Type locality references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 5 pt 4 pp. 353-440 + xi pls 267-274. [Date published 30 Aug. 1916] [394].
• Tyto nullarborensis Barrett, C. 1931. Australian Birds & Butterflies. Series 3. Melbourne : Sun Nature Book Series 44 pp. [11] [as Nullarborensis; published with brief diagnosis and photograph of a mounted skin, a syntype, which is untraced; published without specified date, probably between 1930 and 1931 according to McAllan, I.A.W. & Bruce, M.D. 1989. The Birds of New South Wales A Working List. Turramurra, New South Wales : Biocon Research Group vii 103 pp. [publication dated 1988, published May 1989]—so latter year accepted as date publication under intention of ICZN Art. 12].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (?lost), Nullarbor Plain.
• Tyto novaehollandiae troughtoni Cayley, N.W. 1931. What Bird is That? A Guide to the Birds of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xix 315 pp. XXXVI pls. [32] [as Tyto novae-hollandiae troughtoni; holotype illustrated as fig. 4 on pl. V in original description].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM 0.26568 ♀, Ooldea, East-West Line, SA
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Hindwood, K.A. 1946. A list of the types and paratypes of birds from Australian localities in the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum 21: 386–393; Longmore, N.W. 1991. Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum. Technichal Report of the Australian Museum n 4: 1–42.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1981. Nocturnal Birds of Australia. Illustrated by Jeremy Boot. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 136 pp. 22 pls. [publication dated as 1980] [74, 77]

Generic Combinations

• Tyto novaehollandiae novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826).

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Coastal and subcoastal east, south and western Australia, north at least to the Daintree-Barron-upper Mitchell-Gilbert River drainages, NE QLD, in the east and to the Gascoyne River (Carnarvon), WA, in the west (specimen in ANWC)—and rarely more than 500 km inland, being largely restricted to coastal and inner west scarps of Great Dividing Range in east, also in caves on Nullarbor Plain, SA, WA (extinct?)—records from Canning Stock Route, WA, need confirmation.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, S Gulfs
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, opportunistic breeder, sexually dimorphic, general carnivore, roosts usually in hollows and holes (cliffs) by day, hunts through eucalypt forests and close woodlands by night, rarely into open country, nests autumn to spring on bed of chips and debris in tree hollows or holes, the female brooding.

General References

Elliott, A.J. 1935. Some notes on two Masked Owl nestlings. The Emu 34: 196-199 (downy plumages)

Hyem, E.L. 1979. Observations on owls in the Upper Manning River District, NSW. Corella 3: 17-25 (status, behaviour, voice, nesting)

Mees, G.F. 1963. The status and distribution of some species of owls in Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 8: 166-169 [publication date Mathews, G.M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral Avian Records 4: 1–27 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. Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240)] (Western Australian distribution)

Parker, S.A. 1977. The distribution and occurrence in South Australia of owls of the genus Tyto. South Australian Ornithologist 27: 207-215 [Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of delivery of the sheets of the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society of London, from the commencement in 1830 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440] (South Australian distribution)

Roberts, G.J. 1983. Observations of Masked Owls in the Gloucester area, New South Wales. Australian Birds 18: 13-14 (voice, nidification, territorial behaviour)

Wakefield, N. 1960. Recent mammal bones in the Buchan District –2. Victorian Naturalist 77: 227-240 (diet)

History of changes