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Rufous owls are big birds (the second largest owl in Australia by a small margin) native to forests in the tropical north. It can be a hard species to find and I looked for it on numerous visits over 27 years without success. Then my wife found this one roosting in a fig tree in back of our motel in the city of Cairns, in far north Queensland. I took several photos, dropped my eyes to the camera to check exposure, and when I looked up the bird had vanished -- local birders told me that they wait until you're not looking at them before silently flying away. Even for an owl this species has impressively large eyes and feet. |
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