Australian Boobook (Ninox boobook) | Photos, Calls and ID

NENot EvaluatedInvertebrates

ForestCavity nestMedium · 282 g

What the Australian Boobook sounds like

Sonogram of the Australian Boobook: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by James Ray · Call, song, frog calls · Faulconbridge, Blue Mountains City Council, New South Wales, Australia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The smallest owl on the Australian mainland, the Australian boobook is 27 to 36 cm (10.5 to 14 in) long. The nominate subspecies is the largest. It has short, rounded wings and a short tail, with a compact silhouette in flight. Australian boobooks on the Australian mainland follow Bergmann's rule, in that birds from cooler and more southerly parts of the range tend to be larger. Thus, birds from the Canberra region weigh around 300 g (11 oz) while those from the Cape York Peninsula and Broome are around 200 g (7.1 oz).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Australian Boobook

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Australian Boobook

Regular range

The map shades 3 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Australia Indonesia Timor-Leste

About the Australian Boobook

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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

MoreporkNinox novaeseelandiaeThe morepork is 26 to 29 cm (10 to 11.5 in) long, with the female slightly larger than the male.

Northern BoobookNinox japonicaNinox japonica is a hawk owl species with a body length averaging between 29 and 33 cm and a wingspan of approximately 60 to 70 cm wide.

Powerful OwlNinox strenuaThe powerful owl has a long tail and a small head, giving it an atypical silhouette for an owl and imparting a more hawk-like appearance than any other large owl.

Side by side: Australian Boobook vs Northern Boobook · Australian Boobook vs Morepork · Australian Boobook vs Powerful Owl

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