Morepork

Morepork
Morepork in New Zealand
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Ninox
Species:	N. novaeseelandiae
Binomial name
Ninox novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
Subspecies
2 extant, 1 extinct (see text)

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]