Morepork
MoreporkMoreporkMoreporkMorepork

Morepork

Ninox novaeseelandiae

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered Endemic
Insufficient data
overall probability at Great Otway National Park
1 Verified records at Great Otway National Park
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's active Active throughout day and night

The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by its Māori name ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, the Australian islands of Norfolk Island, and formerly on Lord Howe Island. Its names (also including boobook and mopoke) are onomatopoeic, owing to the species’ distinctive calls. Three subspecies of the morepork are recognised, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population. First described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, the morepork was thought to be the same species as the Australian boobook (N. boobook), native to Australia, Timor-Leste and New Guinea, something that endured for more than two hundred years, until 1999. Similarly, it was also considered the same as the Tasmanian boobook (N. leucopsis) until 2022 . The morepork has dark-brown plumage with prominent pale spots and golden-yellow eyes. Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Great Otway National Park

Southern Boobook
LC

Southern Boobook

☀️🌙 Day & Night Bird

Ninox boobook

<5% · Rare
Powerful Owl
LC Endemic

Powerful Owl

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Ninox strenua

<5% · Rare
Eastern Barn Owl

Eastern Barn Owl

☀️🌙 Day & Night Bird

Tyto javanica

<5% · Rare
Australian Masked Owl
LC

Australian Masked Owl

🌙 Nocturnal Bird

Tyto novaehollandiae

<5% · Rare

📅 Monthly Probability

📊

Fewer than 5 records of Morepork at Great Otway National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.

☀️🌙 When They're Spotted

Active throughout day and night · across all parks (global)

☀️🌙Day & Night
☀️🌙🌙12am6am12pm6pm12am

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is)  ·  parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Probability
1 Rakiura National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
20–30%
2 Arthur's Pass National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
10–20%
3 Abel Tasman National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
5–10%
4 Tongariro National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
5–10%
5 Fiordland National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
5–10%
6 Maria Island National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
5–10%
7 Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
8 Freycinet National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
Insufficient data
9 Aoraki Mount Cook National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Insufficient data
10 Wilsons Promontory National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
Insufficient data
11 Great Otway National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
Insufficient data
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