I am so excited to have one of my pieces as part of the Natural Collection exhibition at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum.

My Barking Owl print titled “That was I, you heard last night” is on display with 28 other printmakers from Warringah Printmakers Studio. The prints in the exhibition each show the artist’s view of the endangered and vulnerable wildlife and habitats of the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, NSW.

Exhibiting from 19th October 2018 till 17 March 2019. Click here for exhibition details.

Species Statement:

Common Name: Barking Owl

Latin Name: Ninox Connivens

The Barking Owl is named after its distinctive call which sounds like the bark of a dog; a “woop-woop” call sounding more like a “woof-woof”. Growing to an average length of 40 cm and weighing 300-500 grams, the Barking Owl is referred to as a “Hawk-Owl” due to its facial features resembling that of a hawk rather than the distinctive heart-shaped face of the more commonly recognised “tyto-owls”, such as the barn-owl. This owl is also capable of making a much louder wailing sound, which was described by early settlers as the shrill screams of a woman being murdered; hence its other nick-name “Screaming Woman Bird”. It is native to Australia and parts of Papua New Guinea, choosing to occupy areas by lakes and rivers which provide the ideal breeding habitat such as large trees with hollows for nesting. The Barking Owl’s conservation status in NSW is “vulnerable”. Its population is distributed sparsely over NSW and its main threat in the Northern Beaches, as with other areas, are loss of habitat through clearing, fragmentation and degradation. Simply put; the species’ main threat is the presence of humans.

Love,
Negin Maddock
@negindesigns