Southern boobook Southern boobook The southern boobook ("Ninox 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. Eleven subspecies of the southern boobook are recognized, despite evidence that four have calls and genetics distinctive enough to warrant separate species status. The smallest owl on the Australian mainland, the southern boobook is long, with predominantly dark-brown plumage with prominent
Southern boobook grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, cockroaches, moths, wolf spiders, and huntsman spiders were also consumed. A study in Victoria found that larger animals were eaten, including Baillon's crake ("Porzana pusilla"), common ringtail possum ("Pseudocheirus peregrinus") and feral rabbit ("Oryctolagus cuniculus"). Using a fence, branch, or telegraph pole as a perch or vantage point from which to hunt, the southern boobook pounces on prey then retreats to a tree or elevated place to eat it. It often hunts in open areas near trees, and also where prey is likely to congregate, such as mice near haystacks or barns, or flying insects near street-