Thank you for all these excellent suggestions, everyone. Some may have missed my message saying that the bird had disappeared by the time I returned.
I had, however, taken some photos of it with my phone, and from these Rory O’Brien at the Museum of Victoria identified it as being the Tasmanian subspecies, Ninox novaeseelandiae leucopsis. So it has at least been altassed.
It’s tempting to believe one suggestion I received privately, that the bird was feigning death in order to lure down a raptor to take as prey, and that it would have flown off as soon as it had taken enough of them, and I’ll be on the lookout for evidence of this behaviour in future.
Peter Shute
_____________________________________________ From: Steve Potter [mailto:steve@frontier.org.au] Sent: Friday, 25 June 2010 9:09 AM To: Peter Shute; birding-aus@vicnet.net.au Subject: What to do with a dead owl?
Slow cook, moderate oven. Add salt.
Steve Potter m: 0407 398 234 e: steve@frontier.org.au
What to do with a dead owl? from [Peter Shute
This morning I found a dead Southern Boobook in Altona, presumably hit by a train during the night. I didn’t have time to do anything about it, as I was on the way to the station, so I hid it in the bushes. What should I do if it’s still there tonight? Should things like this be sent to a museum, or does that only apply to rarer species?
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