Southern boobook age. Brushtail possums ("Trichosurus" spp.) and introduced cats and rats raid the nests for nestlings and eggs, and raptors such as the brown goshawk ("Accipiter fasciatus"), grey goshawk ("Accipiter novaehollandiae"), Australian masked owl ("Tyto novaehollandiae"), and probably powerful owl ("Ninox strenua") seize young birds. Juvenile southern boobooks are at greater risk after bushfires and have perished after being tangled up in dodder ("Cassytha") or bidgee-widgee ("Acaena novae-zelandiae"). The southern boobook generally preys on mice, insects, particularly nocturnal beetles and moths, and birds the size of a house sparrow ("Passer domesticus"). A higher proportion of its diet is invertebrates compared with
Morepork single species. Examining both morphological and genetic (cytochrome "b") characters, Michael Wink and colleagues concluded that the southern boobook was distinct from the morepork, as was the Tasmanian boobook, which should be raised to species status as "Ninox leucopsis". Four subspecies of "Ninox novaeseelandiae" are recognised by the IOC, two of which are extinct: The morepork is long, with female slightly larger than the male. She is slightly heavier, too, at 170-216 g compared with the male's 140-156 g. The morepork has generally dark brown head and upperparts, with pale brown spots on head and neck and white markings on