Lord Howe boobook | |
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Illustration by Henrik Grönvold | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Strigiformes |
Family: | Strigidae |
Genus: | Ninox |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | N. n. albaria |
Trinomial name | |
Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria | |
Synonyms | |
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The Lord 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 Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It is an extinct and little-known subspecies of the morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).
The Lord Howe boobook was similar in appearance to other subspecies of the morepork, being a small, brown hawk owl with white-mottled plumage, paler than other subspecies. [2] Measurements taken from museum specimens indicate that it was smaller than most mainland Australian subspecies of boobook but larger than both the New Zealand and Norfolk Island subspecies. [3]
The Lord Howe boobook was restricted to Lord Howe Island where it inhabited the native forests as well as occurring around the settlements. [4]
Exactly when the Lord Howe boobook became extinct is uncertain. Boobook calls were apparently heard on the island until the 1950s, but during the 1920s boobooks from near Sydney in eastern Australia had been introduced, along with barn owls and masked owls, in an unsuccessful effort to control the black rats that had overrun the island. The rats had been accidentally introduced in June 1918 with the grounding of the steamship SS Makambo, and several of Lord Howe's endemic birds disappeared during the next few years. The endemic boobook may have been extirpated by rat predation, owl predation or owl competition, and the calls heard until the 1950s may have come from either the endemic or the introduced boobook subspecies, or both. [5] [6]
Specimens of the Lord Howe boobook are held in the Australian Museum.
The morepork, better known as the morepork owl, and also known by numerous other onomatopoeic names, 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. Three subspecies of the morepork are recognised, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population.
The tūī is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only species in the genus Prosthemadera. It is one of the largest species in the diverse Australasian honeyeater family Meliphagidae, and one of two living species of that family found in New Zealand, the other being the New Zealand bellbird. The tūī has a wide distribution in the archipelago, ranging from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands, as well as the main islands.
Lord Howe may refer to:
The laughing owl, also known as whēkau, the jackass, or the white-faced owl, is an extinct species of owl that was endemic to New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in New Zealand, its scientific description was published in 1845, but it was largely or completely extinct by 1914. The species was traditionally considered to belong to the monotypic genus Sceloglaux Kaup, 1848, although recent genetic studies indicate that it belongs with the boobook owls in the genus Ninox.
The Australian boobook, is a species of owl native to mainland Australia, southern New Guinea, the island of Timor, and the Sunda Islands. Described by John 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 call. Eight subspecies of the Australian boobook are recognized, with three further subspecies being reclassified as separate species in 2019 due to their distinctive calls and genetics.
Ninox is a genus of true owls comprising 36 species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl is not a member of this genus.
The Australian masked owl is a barn owl of Southern New Guinea and the non-desert areas of Australia.
The Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, known as HANZAB, is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic islands. It attempts to collate all that is known about each of the 957 species recorded.
The Norfolk parakeet, also called Tasman parakeet, Norfolk Island green parrot or Norfolk Island red-crowned parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island.
The Norfolk thrush, also known as the grey-headed blackbird or guava bird, was a bird in the thrush family endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the island thrush.
The Tasmanian masked owl is a bird in the barn owl family Tytonidae that is endemic to the island state of Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest subspecies of the Australian masked owl, the largest Tyto owl in the world, and is sometimes considered a full species. The subspecific name castanops, meaning "chestnut-faced", comes from the colouring of the facial disc. It was first described by John Gould, who wrote about it in his Handbook to the Birds of Australia as:
"…a species distinguished from all the other members of its genus by its great size and powerful form. Probably few of the Raptorial birds, with the exception of the Eagles, are more formidable or more sanguinary in disposition."
"Forests of large but thinly scattered trees, skirting plains and open districts, constitute its natural habitat. Strictly nocturnal in its habits, as night approaches it sallies forth from the hollows of the large gum-trees, and flaps slowly and noiselessly over the plains and swamps in search of its prey, which consists of rats and small quadrupeds generally."
The Norfolk boobook, also 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 territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. It is a subspecies of the morepork.
The Norfolk triller was a small passerine bird in the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the long-tailed triller which was endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. Little is known of its biology.
SS Makambo was a steamship first owned by Burns Philp & Co. Ltd. She was built in Port Glasgow in Scotland and named after an island in the Solomon Islands. She carried both passengers and cargo and was principally used on routes between eastern Australia and islands in Melanesia and the Tasman Sea. In November 1908 Jack and Charmian London travelled from Guadalcanal to Sydney on the Makambo after abandoning their ill-fated circumnavigation of the world on the Snark, a 45' sailing yawl.
The Lord Howe parakeet, also known as the Lord Howe red-fronted parakeet, is an extinct parrot endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It was described as full species by Tommaso Salvadori in 1891, but subsequently it has been regarded as subspecies of the red-crowned parakeet. In 2012, the IOC World Bird List recognised it as species.
The Christmas Island swiftlet, also known as the Christmas glossy swiftlet or the Christmas cave swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean. It was formerly commonly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.
The Kermadec red-crowned parakeet, also known as the Kermadec red-fronted parakeet or Kermadec parakeet, is a parrot endemic to New Zealand's Kermadec Islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is a subspecies of the red-fronted parakeet, and sometimes considered a full species. It is also the first documented example of a parrot recolonising an island after the removal of invasive predators.
The Rote boobook is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to Rote Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
The Tasmanian boobook, also known as the Tasmanian spotted owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is native to Tasmania.