- New Ireland Boobook
-
New Ireland Boobook 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae Genus: Ninox Species: N. variegata Binomial name Ninox variegata
(Quoy and Gaimard, 1830)Synonyms Noctua variegata (Quoy and Gaimard, 1830)[1]
Ninox solomonis (Sharpe, 1876)[2]The New Ireland Boobook, Ninox variegata, also known as the Bismarck Hawk Owl, is a small to medium-sized owl measuring 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 12 in) in length.[2] It is a dark rufous-brown above, with barred scapular feathers and variable amounts of spotting or barring on the wings and tail. Its underparts are whitish, with an unmarked pale throat, a dark barred upper breast and barring on the remainder of the underparts. Its face is dark brown, its eyes are brown or yellow, and its bill and legs are yellow.[3] It is short-tailed and has heavy tarsi (the part of the leg above what is commonly referred to as the foot).[4]
Endemic to the Bismarck archipelago, it occurs on the islands of New Britain, New Ireland and New Hanover,[1] where it lives in forested lowlands, hills and mountains, up to an altitude of 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[2]
It was first described as Noctua variegata by French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830.[1]
Although its population size has not been quantified, it is widespread and fairly common in forest and forest edges within its range, and its numbers are thought to be stable.[5] Deforestation is thought to be a likely threat to the species.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Sibley, Charles Gald; Monroe, Burt Leavelle (1990). Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. New Haven, CT: Yale University. p. 182. ISBN 0-300-04969-2.
- ^ a b c Weick, Friedhelm (2002). Owls (Strigiformes): Annotated and Illustrated Checklist. Springer. p. 228. ISBN 3540352341.
- ^ König, Claus; Weick, Friedhelm; Becking, J. H (1999). Owls: A Guide to the Owls of the World. Ithaca, NY: Pica Press. p. 184.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela C (December 1999). "A New Species of Hawk-owl Ninox from North Sulawesi, Indonesia" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin 111 (4): 457–464. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v111n04/p0457-p0464.pdf.
- ^ "Bismarck Hawk-owl Ninox variegata". BirdLife International. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2311&m=1. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
- ^ Newton, Ian, ed (2002). Ecology and conservation of owls. Csiro Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 0643067949.
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Ninox
- Birds of Papua New Guinea
- Animals described in 1830
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
