International Owl Awareness Day 4 August

International Owl Awareness Day is celebrated every year on the 4th of August. The day is to raise awareness about owls which are nocturnal birds, celebrating our feathery friends, learning about their habitats, sharing our knowledge, and helping to protect them as their numbers are declining here on Norfolk Island and across the world. This year, 2023, the International Owl Awareness Day falls on a Friday.

You can organise some fun activities, drawing pictures of owls, reading books, there are even owls in Harry Potter books. I love the owl’s big eyes and the way they can turn their head, they are sometimes called the “Wise Old Owl”.

Take a trip to the Norfolk Island Botanic Gardens and information centre, where you can learn about the Norfolk Island Morepork. It is always lovely to listen to Morepork owls at night, step outside and listen for their nighttime call. This week I heard their calls during the full moon on Tuesday evening. A great place to hear the calls is up Mt Pitt, and in the Palm Glenn area is another of my favourite places to listen for Norfolk Island Morepork owls. While you are outside at night, you can also star gaze enjoying our Norfolk Island magical dark skies.

The Norfolk Island Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata) is an endemic owl, considered a distinctive subspecies of the New Zealand Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae). One of the world’s rarest owls, it was listed as endangered and headed for extinction, with only one individual, a female, remaining in the mid-1980s. Its perilous state was believed to be due to the lack of large trees with suitable nesting hollows (caused by historical habitat clearing), nest competitors (mainly the Crimson Rosella) and, more recently, a lack of genetic variability and the ageing of the birds.

A rescue mission, in which two New Zealand Moreporks were introduced in 1987, resulted in four hybrid chicks. By 1999, the population had reached around 45–50 individuals. There had been no evidence of successful breeding since 2011, so it was much celebrated when two chicks fledged in 2019. Numbers of this small owl remain low, with recent fieldwork demonstrating just 25–35 individuals persist. Such findings underscore the importance of research and conservation efforts in maintaining our

native fauna. Conservation interventions include installing rat-proof nesting boxes, culling nest competitors, baiting rats and improving the owl’s natural habitat.

Please note the numbers and details are from when last year a publication of Norfolk Island Morepork postage stamps were issued, I am unsure of the estimated number of Morepork at for 2023. I have been involved in nighttime surveys of owls in our area in recent years, which was always very rewarding if we heard the call of the Morepork owl.

Fun owl facts for curious owlets

• There are over 200 species of owl currently known in the world. They’ve been spotted on every continent, except Antarctica.
• A group of owls is called a ‘parliament’.
• Not all owls are nocturnal, some owls actually hunt during the day, and they’re easiest to spot at dusk.
• Owls are adept predators. Depending on their size and species, they catch and eat small animals such as insects, mice and voles. Some even eat crabs!
• The largest owl is the eagle-owl. They can hunt animals as big as deer.
• The smallest owl is the elf-owl. They stick to eating smaller insects such as moths, beetles and crickets.

If you would like to read more about owls, follow the links below.

International Owl Awareness Day | 4th August | Twinkl

I have not photographed an Morepork owl, but I have seen one a few years ago up Mt Pitt, which was very exciting. Attached are a few images for the postage stamps and others taken in the Norfolk Island National Park taken by owl researcher, Flossy

Betty Matthews

August 2023