Morepork Morepork The morepork ("Ninox novaeseelandiae"), also called the ruru or Tasmanian spotted owl, is a small brown owl found throughout New Zealand and Tasmania. Described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it was for many years considered to be the same species as the southern boobook of mainland Australia until 1999. Its name is derived from its two-tone call. Four subspecies of the morepork are recognized, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook — many of these names are onomatopoeic, as
Southern boobook Australia", Gould recognised three species, all of which he placed in the genus "Spiloglaux": "S. marmoratus" from South Australia, "S. boobook", which is widespread across the Australian mainland and Tasmania, and "S. maculatus" from southeastern Australia and Tasmania. Meanwhile, in India, English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson had established the genus "Ninox" in 1837, and his countryman Edward Blyth placed the southern boobook in the new genus in 1849. "Southern boobook" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee. The common name comes from the two-tone call of the bird, and has also been transcribed as "mopoke". William