- Ninox boobook
Identification
25-36 cm (9¾-14¼ in), with females larger than males.
Upperside is brown with white spots, underside buffy or white with brown streaks or spots, quite variable. Around the eye is a dark area surrounded by pale feathering ("spectacles" or "goggles"), and eyes are pale greenish yellow.
Variations
Photo © by Greg McKay
Castlemaine Botanical gardens, Victoria, Australia, February 2010
Race lurida (Red Boobook) from north-eastern Queensland lacks the white spots on upperside, have dark underside, seems to lack the pale spectacles, and show differences in song and song activity. This may warrant full species status.
Other subspecies also differ quite strongly in plumage.
Distribution
Parts of Indonesia (from east of Timor) and southern New Guinea and all of Australia.
Taxonomy
Sumba Boobook, Tasmanian Boobook , Morepork, Rote Boobook, Timor Boobook, and Alor Boobook were formerly included in Southern Boobook.
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- N. n. moae: Moa, Leti and Romang islands (east of Timor)
- N. n. cinnamomina: Babar Island (east of Timor)
- N. n. pusilla: Southern New Guinea
- N. n. ocellata: Sawu (Lesser Sundas) and Australia (except east coast)
- N. n. boobook: Coastal eastern Australia (north to southern Queensland)
- N. n. lurida: North-eastern Australia (north-eastern Queensland between Cooktown and Paluma)
Habitat
Just about everywhere where trees can be found, including in towns.
Behaviour
Hides well during day but sits on bare branches etc at night sallying out to catch insects.
Diet
Their main diet consists of insects, but they also eat mice and other small mammals.
Vocalisation
The nominate form is known for its oft repeated call, a quick, falcetto "boobook".
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Verbelen 2010. Asian enigma: First field observations of Ninox (novaeseelandiae) rotiensis on Roti island, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. BirdingASIA 13: 85-89.
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2015)
- Olsen, P.D. and J. S. Marks (2020). Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.souboo8.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Southern Boobook. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 September 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Southern_Boobook
External Links
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