Nest box installed to attract Powerful Owls to Rosalind Park

Rosalind Park

City of Greater Bendigo Parks and Natural Reserves staff have installed a large habitat/nesting box in Rosalind Park in an attempt to lure a pair of Powerful Owls to the park.

The Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) is a large nocturnal raptor that requires large hollows for nesting and a plentiful food source with which to feed its young.

City of Greater Bendigo Manager Parks and Natural Reserves Simon Harrison said during breeding season the owls inhabit large hollows in trees to raise their young.

“Unfortunately suitable natural hollows large enough for this species are in short supply so the nest boxes are the next best thing. The nest boxes are designed to replicate this habitat requirement and are large enough to accommodate two adult birds and their young.

“As an apex predator, the Powerful Owl is a hunter to many and prey to none. It can devour a possum, flying fox or medium sized bird each evening which is a natural way to manage the number of these species in urban parks like Rosalind Park,” said Mr Harrison.

City of Greater Bendigo Park Ranger Miles Geldard said by day Powerful Owls roost in trees feeding on their prey. However, at night they are most active.

“In Box Ironbark country like that surrounding Bendigo the owls may have a home range of nearly 5000 hectares. The first records of a Powerful Owl using a nest boxes came back in 2006 in Blackburn, Victoria. Since then reports have been growing about the owls moving into suburban areas around Sydney and Canberra.

“This news is in turn attracting the attention of bird enthusiasts as the owls are listed as threatened on the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and vulnerable in NSW and Victoria.

“The City of Greater Bendigo has also installed similar nesting boxes in trees at Crusoe Reservoir, Eaglehawk and Strathfieldsaye in an effort to attract Powerful Owls to these areas.

“It is often through landscape scale conservation efforts such as this that positive results are achieved.

“Homeless owls cannot always wait for the formation of natural hollow in which to raise their offspring and we are hoping to provide the owls with a home so that one day they can be removed from the threatened species lists,” Mr Geldard said.