Ninox connivens
Silhouette: Rachel T Mason · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The barking owl (Ninox connivens) or barking boobook, also known as the winking owl, is a nocturnal bird species native to mainland Australia and parts of New Guinea and the Moluccas. They are medium-sized brown owls and have a characteristic voice with calls ranging from a barking dog noise to an intense human-like howl.
The owl takes its name from its characteristic barking voice. For a short period before 2016, the Red List of Threatened Species referred to this species as the "barking boobook". However, this is not used as a common name in Australia or other English speaking areas in this species' range and has now been corrected to barking owl. The Yanyuwa name for the owl is mulurrku.
The barking owl was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 with the binomial name Falco connivens. Latham commented that the species "Inhabits New Holland, but no history annexed, further than that it has a wonderful faculty of contracting and dilating the iris: and that the native name is Goora-a-Gang." The specific epithet is the Latin connivens 'winking'.
There are five subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Healesville Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Adelaide Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Gorge Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Wild Life Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Caversham Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Central Coast Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Ranger Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Barking Owl sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 250 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 81st most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Barking Owl in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. That is one of Kakadu National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Barking Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Barking Owl sightings, Kakadu National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Nitmiluk National Park (Australia, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Barking Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (250 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
