• Powerful owl (Ninox strenua)
• Barking owl (Ninox connivens)
• Southern boobook (Ninox boobook)
• Eastern barn owl (Tyto alba delicatula)
• Masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae)

Nationwide project aims to map Australia’s favourite predator birds

• Download sample audio here. Images available here. Video available here.
• Meet the owls here.
• More about the Australian Acoustic Observatory: acousticobservatory.org.
• Background information
• Scientists available for interviews
• Media release below

Media contacts: Ben Keirnan, ben@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0408 184 858; or Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

“I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.” Macbeth, William Shakespeare.

Is that an owl hooting? Or a car?

Researchers are after volunteers to help map five native Australian owl species, by listening to short recordings made in the bush. 

The results will provide important information about the range and numbers of these beloved birds of prey. They will also help researchers develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems to use in a new field of science, known as “eco-acoustics”.

The project is called Hoot Detective, and is produced by ABC Science in collaboration with the Australian Acoustic Observatory (A2O) for National Science Week. It will commence online on Monday 9 August at www.hootdetective.net.au and run until the end of August.

The idea is to hunt for Powerful, Barking, Boobook, Barn, and Masked owls. For more about each species, visit hootdetective.net.au/the-owls.

Media release from the Victorian National Science Week Co-ordinating Committee and Inspiring Victoria

How do we fire-proof our forests? How do we save endangered species?  What can you do to help?

ACCLIMATISE is a festival jam-packed with live and online events investigating insights into sustainability and adaption to climate change.

Australian temperatures and sea levels are rising. Droughts and bushfires are becoming more common. Around one million native species are on the brink of extinction.

Join us to explore the challenges of Earth’s complex climate and the search for creative solutions by bringing multidisciplinary fields of science together.

Media release from the Sydney Science Festival

Leading scientists, conservationists and comedians join Eddie Woo for the 2019 program including Dr Sylvia Earle, Michael Aw, Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Paul Davies, Adam Spencer, Andrea Boyd, Claire L Evans and Dr Alice Motion.

Sydney Science Festival is back for a fifth year with events across the city from 6 –18 August 2019. Coinciding with National Science Week, the 13-day program investigates how science informs and intersects with the contemporary issues we face every day. From climate change and oceanic pollution, how to halt aging to the future of space travel, the Festival asks, “how is science influencing the future?”