Biology, conservation and rehabilitation

Australian High Country Owls provides the latest scientific information on Australian owl species, especially Ninox owls. It details studies of Southern Boobooks and Powerful Owls, visits to North America and Europe to learn about owl research, and the resulting publications that overturned some existing beliefs about Australian owls. Ultimately, this led to the discovery of a new owl species in Indonesia, the Little Sumba Hawk-Owl.

Appendices cover the biology, conservation and rehabilitation of Australian owls, including: field recognition, subspecies taxonomy, habitat, behaviour, food, range, migration, breeding, voice and calls, status and myths, questions about each species, and techniques for caring for injured and orphaned owls.

The book includes numerous photographs of different owl species, and will be a handy reference for bird researchers and amateur bird watchers alike.

Preface and acknowledgements
Chapter 1 What is an owl?
Chapter 2 What is a Ninox?
Chapter 3 What is a Southern Boobook?
Studying owls
Chapter 4 David Fleay
Chapter 5 Surveying owls
Chapter 6 Finding owls
Chapter 7 Trapping and handling owls
Chapter 8 Telemetry
Diet and hunting – medium-sized owls
Chapter 9 Spotted Owls
Chapter 10 Boobook summer diet
Chapter 11 Boobook prey size
Chapter 12 Northern Hawk-Owls and Long-eared Owls
Chapter 13 Winter Boobook diet
Chapter 14 Great Horned Owls and versatility
Chapter 15 Great Grey Owls and wing formulae
Chapter 16 Powerful Owl diet
Chapter 17 Forest owl diets
Chapter 18 Powerful Owls and dimorphism
Breeding
Chapter 19 Southern Boobook calls
Chapter 20 Borders
Chapter 21 Duetting and duelling
Chapter 22 Weather and calling
Chapter 23 A lover’s triangle
Chapter 24 Pre-breeding behaviour
Chapter 25 Colour plates
Chapter 26 Nests and breeding habitat
Chapter 27 Timing of breeding
Chapter 28 Pair behaviour – incubation
Chapter 29 Pair behaviour – prey deliveries
Chapter 30 Fledging age
Chapter 31 Female desertion
Chapter 32 Fledgling behaviour
Chapter 33 Snowy Owls
Chapter 34 David Lack’s theory of limiting factors
Chapter 35 Tawny Owls in Kielder Forest
Chapter 36 Duelling and nest failures
Conservation
Chapter 37 Spotted Owls
Chapter 38 Athene and Burrowing Owls
Chapter 39 Little Owls
Chapter 40 Conserving Australian owls
Chapter 41 Conservation techniques
Wallacea
Chapter 42 Wallacea
Chapter 43 Sumba Barn Owls
Chapter 44 Sumba Boobook
Chapter 45 New species
Chapter 46 Eviction