Bashful Australian Masked Owl

Photo by Fleur Walton

Sorry for the relatively low effort posts today, I'm traveling back home today.

Masked Owls are one of the larger Australian Tyto species. Formerly also known as Mouse Owls, from catching mice at homesteads. Habitat loss is affecting these guys, as it is for many owls, and this species is starting to be given conservation status in different areas.

From Wikipedia:

Masked owls follow the typical pattern of birds from the tropics being much smaller than birds from temperate regions. In this instance, Tasmanian masked owls are the largest and the largest of the entire barn-owl family. Among the species in the family, only the greater sooty owl is on average heavier than the Australian masked owl but the Tasmanian species is rather larger and heavier even than the greater sooty owl.