Originally grouped with Ninox novaeseelandiae
Also known as Spotted Hawk Owl
Calls - Ninox boobook
These sometimes playful little
Owls are also known as Mopoke, Morepork, Spotted Owl, and Marbled Owl.
Description: Upperparts are pale to dark brown, depending on locality or
individual variation, with white spots on the wings and back. The underparts are cream to
buff with broad pale to dark brown streaks and mottling, the indistinct facial disc being
much paler than general colour with a large dark patch behind eye. the bill is a
blue-grey, and feet pale blue-grey. Adults have a greenish-yellow iris, while a juvenile's
is brown. The females are slightly larger and more richly coloured. Immatures are paler
than adults.
Size: Female - Length 27-36cm (10.5-14") Wingspan 70-85cm
(25.5-33.5") Weight 194-360g (7-12.5oz)
Male - Length 23-36cm (9-14") Wingspan 70-85cm
(25.5-33.5") Weight 170-298g (6-10.5oz)
Habits: Generally nocturnal, roosts by day in thick foliage. When threatened, they sit bolt upright, with feathers pressed tight against the body, and turn side-on to the source of the threat, appearing long and slender.
Voice: Normal call is a
brief double hoot with the second note pitched lower than the first, each note lasting for about a quarter of a
second with a half second gap in between. There is usually a brief pause and then the call
is repeated at a frequency of about twenty calls a minute. Calling may last for only a
minute or two or may go on for hours. Boobooks also call in a low, soft 'pot pot pot por
pot pot por'. This is a call between mated birds but its use is not confined to the
breeding season. The breeding call is a tremulous braying call, the equivalent of the
bleating call of the Powerful Owl.
Hunting & Food: The type of prey taken seems to vary greatly with
individual birds. Generally feeds on small mammals, especially the House Mouse Mus musculus, and birds up to the size of a House Sparrow. Will also take invertebrates including beetles and moths. Hunts from a from a perch, such as a low branch or fence-post. Flying insects are
taken by hawking flight through and above trees, taking only one insect each flight, and
transferring it to the beak before bringing it to the nest or landing to eat it. Other
insects are snatched from foliage or caught on the ground.
Breeding: The breeding season is August and September almost throughout
Australia. Pairs perch close together with the male giving 'pot pot por' call for long
periods. This may commence well before start of season. One or both birds may roost in
nest hole together for weeks before breeding starts but these out-of-season roosts are not
always chosen as the eventual nest site. The nest can be a wide variety of tree hollows -
the tree may be alive or dead with a hole in a limb or the main trunk, upright or sloping.
The male cleans out the hollow before eggs are laid - usually 2 or 3, rarely up to 5. The
eggs are white and almost round, being 40-45mm (1.6-1.8") by 32-37mm
(1..25-1.5"). They are laid at 1 to 2 day intervals and are incubated for 35 days. The
young have white down and are fledged in 5 to 6 weeks. Like other Ninox Owls, they leave
the nest well below full size and with abundant down. They are probably dependent on the
parents for 2 to 3 months after this.
Habitat: Almost anywhere where there are trees. Eucalypt forest and
woodland appears to be the optimum habitat but also mallee, mulga, semi-desert, tree-lined
creeks, residual timber on farmland, leafy suburbs, offshore islands. They are generally
absent from dense rainforest, except for the Red Boobook of north Queensland.
Distribution: Almost Australia-wide including many offshore islands.
Lesser Sunda Islands, Timor and New Guinea.
Distribution of Ninox boobook
Status: Common and abundant throughout Australia.
Original Description: Latham, John. 1802. Supplementum indicis ornithologici sive systematis ornithologiae (Suppl. ind. orn.): p xv.
Subspecies:
N. b. boobook,
N. b. cinnamomina,
N. b. fusca,
N. b. halmaturina,
N. b. lurida,
N. b. moae,
N. b. ocellata,
N. b. plesseni,
N. b. pusilla,
N. b. remigialis,
N. b. rotiensis,
N. b. leucopsis
References:
Page Information:
Page compiled by Deane P. Lewis.
OwlPages.com Owl Species ID: 240.050.000 - Page last updated 2005-04-27
Typical Call
