CreatureData

Australian boobook

Ninox boobook (Latham, 1801)

LCLeast Concernowls

The Australian boobook (Ninox boobook) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 213.5 g to 316 g and live up to 13 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Australian boobook (Ninox boobook)
Photo: Patrick_K59 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the Australian boobook

Weight
213.5 g – 316 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
56 cm – 82 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
13 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.5 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

How big is the Australian boobook?

AUSTRALIAN BOOBOOK · WINGSPAN 82 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 82 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the Australian boobook is about 48% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the Australian boobook

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the Australian boobook live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The Australian boobook is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the Australian boobook?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Australian 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. 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.

The smallest owl on the Australian mainland, the Australian boobook is 27 to 36 cm (10.5 to 14 in) long, with predominantly dark-brown plumage with prominent pale spots. It has grey-green or yellow-green eyes. It is generally nocturnal, though sometimes it is active at dawn and dusk, retiring to roost in secluded spots in the foliage of trees. The Australian boobook feeds on insects and small vertebrates, hunting by pouncing on them from tree perches. Breeding takes place from late winter to early summer, using tree hollows as nesting sites. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the Australian boobook as being of least concern on account of its large range and apparently stable population.

From the Wikipedia article “Australian boobook” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_boobook&oldid=1384597766), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the Australian boobook sound like?

James Ray · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the Australian boobook endangered?

The Australian boobook is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the Australian boobook classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusNinox
  7. SpeciesNinox boobook (Latham, 1801)

Synonyms Strix boobook

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • Southern boobookEnglish
  • Southern boobookEnglish
  • nínox australiàCatalan
  • sovka bubukCzech
  • Lille HøgeugleDanish
  • BoobookkauzGerman
  • Südlicher BoobookkauzGerman
  • Südlicher KauzGerman
  • aŭstralia nizostrigoEsperanto
  • Nínox PapúSpanish
  • Nínox australianoSpanish
  • väike-haugaskakkEstonian
  • australianhaukkapöllöFinnish
  • Ninoxe d'AustralieFrench
  • Ninoxe d’AustralieFrench
  • australska ćukušaCroatian
  • ausztrál kakukkbagolyHungarian
  • Pungguk kokodokIndonesian
  • Bubuk comuneItalian
  • Boobook australianoItalian
  • Civetta sparviero meridionaleItalian
  • ミナミアオバズクJapanese
  • guubunykgs
  • australinė aštrianagė pelėdaLithuanian
  • Australische BoeboekuilDutch
  • boobookugleNorwegian
  • sowica australijskaPolish
  • mocho-australianoPortuguese
  • coruja-gavião-australianaPortuguese
  • Иглоногая сова-бубукRussian
  • Австралийская иглоногая соваRussian
  • Australijski bubukSerbian
  • australisk spökugglaSwedish
  • Avustralya BubuğuTurkish
  • сова-голконіг австралійськаUkrainian
  • 南鹰鸮Chinese
  • 南方鷹鴞Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the Australian boobook

Other species in the same genus Ninox.

LC, Least Concern
Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae)

Morepork

Ninox novaeseelandiae

Strigidae

CompareAustralian boobook vs Brown boobookAustralian boobook vs MoreporkAustralian boobook vs Powerful owlAustralian boobook vs Barking owl

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the Australian boobook?

An adult Australian boobook weighs 213.5 g – 316 g and has a wingspan of 56 cm – 82 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the Australian boobook live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the Australian boobook for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the Australian boobook endangered?

The Australian boobook is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the Australian boobook live?

The Australian boobook has a recorded lifespan of 13 years.

What kind of animal is the Australian boobook?

The Australian boobook (Ninox boobook) belongs to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Australian boobook (Ninox boobook). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-boobook

MLA

“Australian boobook (Ninox boobook).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-boobook.

BibTeX
@misc{australian_boobook_2026,
  title = {Australian boobook (Ninox boobook)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-boobook},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}