Animal Diaries Archive

Barking Mad!

1 August 2008

It has been an interesting time in Bird Show the past couple of months because a lot of our birds have been going through their breeding seasons; one such bird is our Barking Owl Nuebi.

The Barking Owl is a late winter breeder stretching from July to September although sometimes starting a little earlier. Barking Owls will often nest in the hollows of large trees up to about 30 metres off the ground. At Australia Zoo we have found that during this period our owl Nuebi starts to become a little aggressive, which can pose a problem because Nuebi is a free flight birds and is one of the few that performs in the Bird of Prey show. In the show Nuebi does a routine between three keepers who vary his flight in all directions. This flight brings him close to the public and thus begins our problem. Nuebi is fine with his keepers but the public can seem a little intimidating for him and in his breeding state he does become very territorial.

Lucky for us, this kind of behaviour does not last for very long and we are able to rove him at the Bird of Prey show and fly him in his aviary and off display. Nuebi is already starting to get back to his old calmer self so the next time you come and visit us at the Australia Zoo make sure you stop by and check out this awesome little owl.