Golden masked owl

The golden masked owl (Tyto aurantia) is a barn owl endemic to the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. It is also known as New Britain barn owl, New Britain masked owl, Bismarck owl and Bismarck masked owl.

As with other tropical barn owls, it is difficult to spot in the wild and therefore poorly studied. It is likely to be a lowland forest or coniferous species.

Given the paucity of reliable information, it was for some time classified as a data deficient species by the IUCN. When its status could finally be evaluated properly, earlier assessments were found to be correct, and it is once again listed as a Vulnerable species in the 2008 red list.