Greater Sooty Owl
Tyto tenebricosa

The sooty owl or greater sooty owl 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, is sometimes considered to be conspecific with this species, in which case they are then together referred to as sooty owls. It is substantially smaller and occurs in the wet tropics region of North Queensland, Australia. Source
Where it is now
In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 42 times across 5 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).
See the Greater Sooty Owl on the live map
Arrival dates
The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.
| Region | First arrival | Last arrival | Typical peak | Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceania | 2 March 2026 | 2 March 2026 | 9 March 2026 | 1 |
Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.