CreatureData

Morepork

Ninox novaeseelandiae (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

LCLeast Concernowls

The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) is a species in the family Strigidae, order Strigiformes. Recorded adults weigh 183.4 g to 213.5 g and live up to 13 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae)
Photo: Aviceda · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the morepork

Weight
183.4 g – 213.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
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 – 2.5src 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

Where does the morepork 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 morepork 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

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

What is the morepork?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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. Like most owls, the species is generally nocturnal, though may be crepuscular at times (or active at dawn and dusk), retiring to roost in secluded spots within the branches of trees. The morepork feeds on larger insects and small vertebrates, hunting by pouncing on them from tree perches. As with all owls, the morepork has supreme night vision and excellent hearing, able to locate a tiny lizard or rodent from many metres above and away. They then stealthily approach their targeted prey with near-silent flight, without flapping their wings, the prey often not even aware they are being pursued.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the morepork's population and its potential for decline, and ranked the species as being of least concern (not currently at-risk), owing to its presently large range and apparently stable population.

From the Wikipedia article “Morepork” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morepork&oldid=1382229137), 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.

Is the morepork endangered?

The morepork 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.

How is the morepork classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderStrigiformes
  5. familyStrigidae
  6. genusNinox
  7. SpeciesNinox novaeseelandiae (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

Synonyms Strix novae, Strix novaeseelandiae

Other names and names in other languages (43)
  • MopokeEnglish
  • MopokeEnglish
  • Southern boobookEnglish
  • Southern boobookEnglish
  • nínox de Nova ZelandaCatalan
  • sovka ostrovníCzech
  • sovka novozélandskáCzech
  • gwalchdylluan bwbwcWelsh
  • Newzealandsk HøgeugleDanish
  • KuckuckskauzGerman
  • GrunzkauzGerman
  • Neuseeland-KuckuckskauzGerman
  • RuruoEsperanto
  • novzelanda nizostrigoEsperanto
  • Nínox maoríSpanish
  • lõuna-haugaskakkEstonian
  • AustralianhaukkapöllöFinnish
  • uudenseelanninhaukkapöllöFinnish
  • Ninoxe bouboukFrench
  • novozelandska ćukušaCroatian
  • kakukkbagolyHungarian
  • Civetta boobookItalian
  • Gufastore della Nuova ZelandaItalian
  • Gufastore di Nuova ZelandaItalian
  • ニュージーランドアオバズクJapanese
  • gegutinė aštrianagė pelėdaLithuanian
  • RuruMāori
  • BoeboekuilDutch
  • Nieuw-Zeelandse BoeboekuilDutch
  • nattsvermerugleNorwegian
  • sowica ciemnolicaPolish
  • mocho-maoriPortuguese
  • coruja-gavião-maoriPortuguese
  • coruja-lavradoraPortuguese
  • Кукушечья иглоногая соваRussian
  • sovka mopokeSlovak
  • Novozelandski i tasmanijski bubukSerbian
  • nyzeelandspökugglaSwedish
  • nyzeeländsk spökugglaSwedish
  • Yeni Zelanda BubuğuTurkish
  • морепоркUkrainian
  • 布布克鷹鴞Chinese
  • 新西兰鹰鸮Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the morepork

Other species in the same genus Ninox.

CompareMorepork vs Brown boobookMorepork vs Powerful owlMorepork vs Barking owlMorepork vs Andaman boobook

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the morepork?

An adult morepork weighs 183.4 g – 213.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the morepork live?

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

Is the morepork endangered?

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

How long does the morepork live?

The morepork has a recorded lifespan of 13 years.

What kind of animal is the morepork?

The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) 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). Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/morepork

MLA

“Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/morepork.

BibTeX
@misc{morepork_2026,
  title = {Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/morepork},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}