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Typical Owls (Strigidae)

Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook) - HBW 5, p. 232

French: Ninoxe d’Australie German: Boobookkauz Spanish: Nínox Australiano
Other common names: Boobook (Owl), Streaked/Northern/Australian Boobook; Red/Dark Boobook (lurida)

Taxonomy: Strix Boobook Latham, 1801, Sydney area, New South Wales.
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with N. rudolfi and N. novaeseelandiae; various other proposed treatments, e.g. as member of species-group that includes N. novaeseelandiae, N. squamipila, N. theomacha, N. meeki, N. variegata and perhaps other boobooks in Australasian Region; more research needed. Has often been treated as conspecific with N. novaeseelandiae, but separated specifically by morphological and molecular differences; Tasmanian race leucopsis of latter has been placed with present species, which formerly also i.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Strix Boobook Latham, 1801, Sydney area, New South Wales.
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with N. rudolfi and N. novaeseelandiae; various other proposed treatments, e.g. as member of species-group that includes N. novaeseelandiae, N. squamipila, N. theomacha, N. meeki, N. variegata and perhaps other boobooks in Australasian Region; more research needed. Has often been treated as conspecific with N. novaeseelandiae, but separated specifically by morphological and molecular differences; Tasmanian race leucopsis of latter has been placed with present species, which formerly also included N. rudolfi as race. No consensus on number of races, much in need of revision, especially non-Australian forms. Kangaroo I population has been described as separate race (halmaturina), but seems not constantly separable from nearby mainland population of nominate; also, marmorata of SW & SC Australia synonymous with ocellata. Ten subspecies tentativelly recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • rotiensis Johnstone & Darnell, 1997 - Roti.
  • fusca (Vieillot, 1817) - Timor.
  • plesseni Stresemann, 1929 - Alor.

     See all 10 subspecies
  • rotiensis Johnstone & Darnell, 1997 - Roti.
  • fusca (Vieillot, 1817) - Timor.
  • plesseni Stresemann, 1929 - Alor.
  • moae Mayr, 1943 - Romang, Leti and Moa.
  • cinnamomina Hartert, 1906 - Babar.
  • remigialis Stresemann, 1930 - Kai Is.
  • pusilla Mayr & Rand, 1935 - S New Guinea.
  • ocellata (Bonaparte, 1850) - Australia W of Great Dividing Range; rarely, islands in Torres Strait; also Sawu (W of Timor).
  • lurida De Vis, 1887 - NE Queensland between Cooktown and Paluma.
  • boobook (Latham, 1801) - coastal and subcoastal E Australia, S from S Queensland.
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