Morepork though he followed Mees in treating them as a single species. Janette Norman and colleagues tested the cytochrome "b" DNA of three subspecies (as well as the powerful and rufous owls) to ascertain whether the closest relative was used in breeding with the last surviving female of the Norfolk boobook. They discovered that although the Norfolk boobook was similar in plumage to the Tasmanian boobook, it was genetically much closer to the New Zealand subspecies. In fact, the two were so close genetically that they considered whether the Norfolk boobook should be recognised as a separate taxon at all, although
Australasian pipit New Zealand due to the improvement of pastures, use of pesticides and predation by introduced species. A number of subspecies are recognised: Australasian pipit The Australasian pipit ("Anthus novaeseelandiae") is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. It belongs to the pipit genus "Anthus" in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with the Richard's, African, Mountain and Paddyfield pipits in a single species: Richard's pipit, "Anthus novaeseelandiae". Some authors split the Australasian pipit further into two species: Australian pipit ("Anthus australis") in Australia and New Guinea and New Zealand pipit