Peering up at Pittwater’s impressive Angophora forests, eyes peeled with a chance of catching a peek of Australia’s largest owl, with its glowing yellow eyes and impeccable camouflage, the Powerful Owl calls this paradise home.
If you’ve ever heard a deep, slow ‘wooo-hooo’ call travelling through the evening air, there’s a chance it’s our remarkable Powerful Owl. And now, thanks to The Powerful Owl Project, managed by BirdLife Australia program officer Beth Mott, this amazing creature and threatened species is being given a voice.
“Research shows our urban spaces could be the answer to saving these remarkable creatures. The leafy Northern Beaches is home to a few breeding pairs of Powerful Owl.” Beth continues, “Because of their camouflage, sometimes the calls of adults or the trilling calls of chicks are the only way we know owls are about. It’s the second half of the 2021 breeding season, and young owlets and their parents are just beginning to get noisy again.”
Owls face many problems in the city, including car strikes and habitat loss, and one of the things most important to stem the loss of our urban owls are safe passages for movement. In the urban space these passages are called green corridors.
In the Northern Beaches, important green corridors for owls aren’t just made up of patches of bushland in parks, but of many small patches of unprotected bushland, as well as street trees, and even trees in our own backyards.
As a proud, local nature girl, I’ve been supporting The Powerful Owl Project this past year through my Australian made sustainable swimwear label, Shapes in the Sand.
The label’s motto, Sustainably Shaping Swimwear, is truly lived up to, where each collection is created to help keep the ecological footprint as small as possible. Shapes in the Sand’s playful signature print stories illustrate the natural world, while encouraging others to protect it.
As part of the current Birds and the Bees collection, Shapes in the Sand is donating $10 from every swimsuit sold towards The Powerful Owl Project.
How can you create a green corridor in your garden?
Talk to your neighbours and think about how together you can grow an owl garden or save a tree in your neighbourhood. These small collective actions make a huge difference for our urban wildlife.
Contact BirdLife Australia to report your owl sightings at powerfulowl@birdlife.org.au
To support Shapes in the Sand & The Powerful Owl Project, follow @shapesinthesandswim and visit www.shapesinthesand.com.au