The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by numerous other onomatopoeic names (such as boobook, mopoke or ruru),[3] is a smallish, brown owl species found in New Zealand, and to the northwest, on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory. It was also, formerly, found on Lord Howe Island.[3] Three subspecies of the morepork are recognised, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population.
First described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, the morepork was thought to be the same species as the Australian boobook (N. boobook), native to Australia, Timor-Leste and New Guinea, something that endured for nearly two hundred years, until 1999. Similarly, it was also considered the same as the Tasmanian boobook (N. leucopsis) until 2022.
The morepork has dark-brown plumage with prominent pale spots and golden-yellow eyes. Like most strigiformes, the species is generally nocturnal, though may be crepuscular at times (or active at dawn and dusk), retiring to roost in secluded spots within the branches of trees. The morepork feeds on larger insects and small vertebrates, hunting by pouncing on them from tree perches. As with all owls, the morepork has supreme night vision and excellent hearing, able to locate a tiny lizard or rodent from many metres above and away. They then stealthily approach their targeted prey with near-silent flight, without flapping their wings, the prey often not even aware they are being pursued.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the morepork's population and its potential for decline, and ranked the species as being of least concern (not currently at-risk), owing to its presently large range and apparently stable population.[1]
^ abBirdLife International (2016). "Ninox novaeseelandiae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T62023843A95186187. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T62023843A95186187.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by numerous other onomatopoeic names (such as boobook, mopoke or ruru), is a smallish, brown owl species...
unannounced Unreal Engine 4 game. "Morepork Games about page". Morepork Games Limited. Retrieved 13 July 2015. "Kiwi Morepork Games Swing Racers takes off on...
known as the Norfolk Island boobook, Norfolk Island owl or Norfolk Island morepork, is a bird in the true owl family endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian...
Howe boobook (Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria), also known as the Lord Howe morepork, was a bird in the true owl family endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman...
are named after their calls, such as the bobwhite quail, the weero, the morepork, the killdeer, chickadees and jays, the cuckoo, the chiffchaff, the whooping...
Motto Noli Timere Messorem (Don't fear the reaper) Symbolism The owl is a morepork, which taken together with the ankh is a clear reference to the city of...
Latham in 1801, it was generally considered to be the same species as the morepork of New Zealand until 1999. Its name is derived from its two-tone boo-book...
king; see List of Ikshvaku dynasty kings in Hinduism Māori name for the morepork owl Ruru Amour (ルールー・アムール), a character from Hugtto! PreCure This disambiguation...
morsel of cooked food and put it in Pania's mouth. As he did so, Ruru the morepork (owl) called a loud warning and Pania was startled from her sleep. Horrified...
likely to be reptiles such as geckos and skinks or birds such as ruru (morepork). Mountain stone wētā have a several year life cycle, they may take at...
Lord Howe golden whistler or Pachycephala pectoralis contempta Lord Howe morepork, another name for the Lord Howe boobook Lord Howe pigeon or Columba vitiensis...
grey fantail, silvereye, shining cuckoo (in season), grey warbler and morepork. Introduced species include the common blackbird, song thrush, house sparrow...
taxon to the Ninox clade containing the barking owl, Sumba boobook, and morepork, the latter of which shared New Zealand with the laughing owl. The laughing...
Women's Weekly, 19 February 1975. (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions) Morepork (1979—USA). (in both the 1989 and 1991 editions) The Figure Quoted. (Christchurch)...
Illustrations of the morepork (left) and the extinct laughing owl (right) by John Gerrard Keulemans in Walter Buller's A History of the Birds of New Zealand...
Strigidae. It is native to Tasmania. Formerly considered conspecific with the morepork (N. novaeseelandiae), multiple phylogenetic studies have affirmed its status...
with it, include queach, strongle, ablewhacket, hickboo, jargoon, zurf, morepork, and jirble. The word queach was defined by the contestants as "a malicious...
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