| Masked Owls | |
| |
| Names | |
| Common Name: | Masked Owls |
| Scientific Name: | Tyto novaehollandiae |
| Appearance | |
| Brown (often speckled) with white, heart shaped faces, white chests, and brown or black eyes. | |
| Behavior | |
| Live in the Forest Kingdom of Tyto | |
Masked Owls are a species of Tyto Owls (Barn owls). They are sometimes called Cave Owls (due to their nesting habits) or Mouse Owls (because mice make up a large portion of their diet).
Information[]
Description[]
Australian Masked Owls have pale and dark color morphs, with females being darker. Length ranges from 13-20 in (33-50 cm) with females being larger. Tasmanian Masked Owls are darker, being a combination of browns and greys. They are also larger, ranging from 17-22 in (47-55 cm). Their call is a screech, like the Barn Owl, but louder and more rasping. They also have a cackling call.
The Golden Masked Owl (Tyto aurantia) is a pale golden-rufous with a pale yellowish-brown facial disc. The eyes are blackish-brown, and the bill is ashy-white. Length is 10.6-13 in (27-33 cm). Their call is an ascending ka-ka repeated 6 times.
The Minahasa Masked Owl (Tyto inexspectata), also called the Minahasa Barn Owl or Sulawesi Golden Owl, is relatively small at 11-12 in (27-31 cm). The wings and tail are ochre. The crown and upper back are greyish-brown, while the rest is a golden-brown.
Ecology[]
A secretive nocturnal owl, they rest in the dense foliage of tall trees, tree hollows, or caves. They inhabit forests and open woodlands with nearby clearings, and bushy landscapes. The Australian Masked Owl is found all throughout the non-desert areas of Australia, and southern New Guinea.
The Golden Masked Owl is endemic to New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Nocturnal and solitary, their primary habitat is lowland and coniferous forests.
The Minahasa Masked Owl in endemic to the Sulawesi, Indonesia. Little is known about it, apart from it being nocturnal. It lives in tropical rainforests, as well as montane dry forests.
Diet[]
Their diet is mostly small mammals up to the size of rabbits (including bandicoots and possums), but bats, small birds, reptiles, and insects will also be taken. They will hunt on the wing or from a perch.
Reproduction[]
They breed when conditions are favorable, which can be any time of the year. They make their nest in hollow trunks of tall eucalyptus trees, but will also use bare rock or sand in a cave. Normally 2-4 dull white eggs are laid. Nestlings fledge at 10-12 weeks.
The Golden Masked Owl nests in hollow trees, incubation lasts about 32 days, and nestlings fledge after about 80 days.
Common predators are eagles, hawks, and larger owls.
Significant Masked owls[]
History[]
The Journey[]
On their way to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the Band rests in a spruce tree after Digger is injured by crows. They're soon visited by a family of Snobby Masked Owls. Gylfie notes how they look similar to Soren, to which Soren replies that they hardly look identical, what with Masked Owls being larger and darker. The Masked Owls seem nice at first, praising them for getting past the crows, but they look down on nest-maid snakes, and scoff at the idea that the Great Ga'Hoole Tree actually exists. The female says it's a waste of time, and notes that they must be orphans. She also looks directly at Soren when mentioning good breeding. She's shocked when Mrs. Plithiver retorts that she's being blind and foolish to not believe the Great Ga'Hoole Tree exists.
The Rescue[]
A young Masked Owl named Nut Beam, one of the Tytos rescued from The Great Downing, accompanies the weather chaw. A storm forces them to spend the day in the Spirit Woods.
The Burning[]
A female Masked Owl leads Soren, Twilight, Martin, Gylfie, and a small unit of the Frost Beaks on a chase. She lures them into a cave where Digger is being held captive, and Kludd is waiting to spring his trap.
Nut Beam was sent on a mission to set up Owlipoppen. Later he sustained injuries, but was safely transported by a Glauxspeed unit.
The Hatchling[]
Gwyndor, a Rogue smith, having been asked several times by the Pure Ones to perform the Final Marking ceremony, only agrees to do so after a visit with Mist gives him a strange dream. As they immolate Kludd's bones, Gwyndor pays attention to Nyroc, wondering if perhaps the lad might have Firesight, and if the young'un might also be the reason why he was called here.
Later, Nyra tries to get Gwyndor to set up a forge so to make them battle claws, or even fire claws. At first he refuses, but after an interruption from Nyroc, he changes his mind, but tells Nyra he must leave to acquire special materials. Gwyndor had to wait until dark so as to avoid crows.
Soon he heads for Silverveil to talk with the Rogue Smith. He tells her about Nyroc and how he might be a fire reader, and how he's about to do a Special ceremony. The Rogue Smith explains about Tupsi, and Gwyndor wants to tell Nyroc, but the Rogue Smith thinks it's better if the lad figures it out for himself.
Gwyndor flies back to the Canyonlands, using a flaming branch to drive away a mob of crows. He collapses in The Barrens, but is rescued by a family of Burrowing Owls.
Upon reaching the Pure Ones, Gwyndor manages to get privacy to talk with Nyroc under the pretense that the boy could learn to be a smith. Nyroc sees images in the flames and asks Gwyndor what it all means. Gwyndor replies that he cannot answer, but that Nyroc should feel it in his gizzard because he has free will.
The Outcast[]
Gwyndor is in the Beyond the Beyond when he runs into Otulissa. She asks for directions to the MacDuncan Clan and he accompanies her.
They soon meet with Nyroc, who tells Gwyndor that his name is now Coryn. Gwyndor also helps Otulissa when she almost goes yeep from thinking Coryn is Nyra. Gwyndor and Otulissa talk of Coryn, how he's seen the Ember of Hoole, and how she must teach him how to be a collier.
During the lesson, Gwyndor is grateful for the bonk coals.
He's present to witness Coryn when he retrieves the ember and becomes king.
Exile[]
As Cory made his way to the tree to see Coryn, he went yeep when he thought he saw The Band being burned. Gwyndor saved him and explained what was going on. Later, Gwyndor set up a forge in The Brad to make them weapons, and he accompanied them to the great tree disguised as a Greenowl. He helped them drive out The Striga and his Blue Brigade, even taking out Field Marshal Cram.
The War of the Ember[]
Gwyndor is working at his forge in the Beyond when he hears Namara howling. Feeling dread in his gizzard, he decides to head for the great tree.
Nut Beam is made a Jossian Messenger stationed at the Ice Dagger. He delivered a message to Moss from Coryn, and later to Coryn from Otulissa.
The Rise of a Legend[]
General Andricus asks his secretary, Sergeant Alion Tyto Castanops, for the note left for Lyze from his aunt Hanja.
Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole[]
A Masked Owl named Vaygar accompanied Stryker on his mission to find Coryn. They follow his trail to the Shadow Forest, with the trail running cold due to the snow. Uglamore is already there, and knows Coryn is in the nearby fallen tree. Stryker flies off, but Vaygar stays behind to find a quick snack. He talks with Uglamore about how it's an honor to be on this mission, and hopefully he'll be promoted to lieutenant. Uglamore notes to himself that the Pure Ones would never promote a Masked Owl to lieutenant. As Vaygar snacks on some insects, he hears a noise from the fallen tree and finds Coryn. When he tries to leave, declaring that he must tell Commander Stryker, Uglamore reluctantly kills him.
Trivia[]
- The species name for the Australian Masked Owl novaehollandiae means "New Holland", a historical European name for mainland Australia.
- The Tasmanian Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops) is a subspecies of the Australian Masked Owl, and the largest Tyto in the world.
- The subspecies name for the Tasmanian Masked Owl castanops means "chestnut-faced" referring to the color of its facial disc.
- The species name for the Golden Masked Owl aurantia is Latin for "orange".
- The species name for the Minahasa Masked Owl inexspectata is Latin for "unexpected".
Gallery[]
