Norfolk boobook

Norfolk boobook
Illustration by Henrik Grönvold
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Ninox
Species:
N. novaeseelandiae
Subspecies:
N. n. undulata
Trinomial name
Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata
(Latham, 1801)

The Norfolk boobook (Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata), also known as the Norfolk Island boobook, Norfolk Island owl or Norfolk Island morepork, is a bird in the true owl family endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. It is a subspecies of the morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).

Although the taxon is extinct as a pure lineage, its genes live on in the descendants of the hybrid offspring of the last female bird, which was sighted for the last time in 1996.[2] Due to the genetic closeness of the Norfolk and New Zealand moreporks, with the majority of original Norfolk boobook DNA being preserved in modern birds, the subspecies is thus considered extant by the International Ornithological Congress and the EPBC Act despite the hybridization.[3][4][5]

  1. ^ "Species Profile and Threats Database Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata — Norfolk Island Boobook, Norfolk Island Morepork, Southern Boobook (Norfolk Island)". Canberra: Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  2. ^ Garnett & Crowley, p.365
  3. ^ Norman, Janette; Olsen, Penny; Christidis, Les (1998). "Molecular genetics confirms taxonomic affinities of the endangered Norfolk Island Bookbook Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata". Biological Conservation. 86 (1): 33–36. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00012-3.
  4. ^ "Owls – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  5. ^ Garnett, Stephen T.; Olsen, Penny; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Hoffmann, Ary A. (2011). "Did hybridization save the Norfolk Island boobook owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata?". Oryx. 45 (4): 500–504. doi:10.1017/S0030605311000871. ISSN 1365-3008.