Last year's fires took out Scenic Rim grazing land, national parks and tourism, and now scientists are concerned that they have impacted the powerful owl, a rare and beautiful species of native bird.
Scientists believe habitat of three species of owls was taken out by fires in Queensland and New South Wales.
BirdLife Australia powerful owl project coordinator Robert Clemens said the powerful owl was already considered threatened in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and the fires could see its status recognised nationally.
"Fires often have devastating impacts on trees that are 100 to 500 years old, the trees that forest owls nest in," Dr Clemens said
"And it is now more important than ever to identify remaining owl breeding hollows.
"Despite being large and having distinctive calls, these owls are ridiculously hard to find, and so the locations of their critical habitats remain poorly known."
A citizen science project and acoustic monitoring of the powerful owl would help identify areas of remaining forest in most need of protection for the species.
The acoustic monitoring equipment was funded by the Queensland government, with help from the Queensland University of Technology, and Logan and Redland councils.
QUT Associate Professor Susan Fuller said that in remote areas, advances in acoustic monitoring could be used to find these kinds of cryptic species.
Powerful owls have a slow, double-note "whoo-hoo" call and dusk is a good time to listen for them.
Anyone who wants to help or learn more can visit birdlife.org.au/projects/powerful-owl-project or look on Facebook.
