Food
Invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, but mostly small birds.
Voice
Two syllable territorial hoot, 'boo-book, mo-poke', or 'more-pork', the second note lower pitched than the first, given by both sexes, through a closed bill, from a perch. Also low trilling calls in contact and screams in alarm. Immatures beg with whistling cricket-like trill.
Australian Boobook (Ninox boobook) [XC831210]
by Frank Lambert from Mernda, City of Whittlesea, Victoria, Australia (call)
Australian Boobook (Ninox boobook) [XC619286]
by Nigel Jackett from Murrays Beach, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia (uncertain)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly September - December.
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Nest
In a hollow limb or hole in a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4 sometimes 4; plain white; spherical; about 40 - 45 x 35 mm. Incubation: 26 - 33 days; by female which begins with laying of first egg. Eggs are laid at two - three nightly intervals.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 5 - 6 weeks. Fed by both parents and then, maybe also, by additional helpers.
Subspecies
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with Sumba Boobook (Ninox rudolfi) and Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae); various other proposed treatments, e.g. as member of species-group that includes Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), Seram Boobook (Ninox squamipila), Jungle Boobook (Ninox theomacha), Manus Boobook (Ninox meeki), Bismarck Boobook (Ninox variegata) and perhaps other boobooks in Australasian Region; more research needed. Has often been treated as conspecific with Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), but separated specifically by morphological and molecular differences; Tasmanian subspecies leucopsis of latter has been placed with present species, which formerly also included Sumba Boobook (Ninox rudolfi) as subspecies. No consensus on number of subspecies, much in need of revision, especially non-Australian forms. Kangaroo I population has been described as separate subspecies (halmaturina), but seems not constantly separable from nearby mainland population of nominate; also, marmorata of south-western and south-central Australia synonymous with ocellata.
Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) and Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook) have been lumped into Ninox novaeseelandiae following Christidis and Boles (1994).
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
The following 11 subspecies are recognised:
rotiensis Johnstone & Darnell, 1997 - Roti. Lesser Sundas, southern New Guinea, Australia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Rote Boobook (Ninox rotiensis).
fusca (Vieillot, 1817) - Timor. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
plesseni Stresemann, 1929 - Alor. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
moae Mayr, 1943 - Romang, Leti and Moa. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
cinnamomina Hartert, 1906 - Babar. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
remigialis Stresemann, 1930 - Kai Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
pusilla Mayr & Rand, 1935 - Southern New Guinea. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
ocellata (Bonaparte, 1850) - Australia west of Great Dividing Range; rarely, islands in Torres Strait. Also Sawu (west of Timor). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
lurida De Vis, 1887 - North-eastern Queensland between Cooktown and Paluma. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
boobook (Latham, 1801) - Coastal and subcoastal eastern Australia, south from southern Queensland. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
halmaturina Mathews, 1912 - Kangaroo I. (off southern Australia).
Similar Species
Especially in the north, with poor and brief views, with Barking Owl (Ninox connivens) which is distinctly larger, has less densely streaked upper breast and a lighter face mask and Brown Hawk-Owl (Ninox scutulata) which has proportionately longer wings and tail, an indistinct face mask, is uniformly dark and has much deeper yellow eyes.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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