Barking Owl

The Barking Owl is a typical hawk-owl, with staring, yellow eyes. It has a quick, dog-like 'wook-wook' territorial call, which it repeats.

Pairs perform call-and-answer duets; the male's call is slower and deeper.
It also has a terrifying, high-pitched tremulous scream, heard early in the breeding season, that has earned it the name 'screaming-woman bird'.

But sadly, there may be as few as 50 pairs of this magnificent owl left in Victoria, and it has become extremely rare in western Victoria.

Photo: Ken Stepnell, courtesy Parks Victoria