Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (Latham, 1801:17)
Norfolk boobook, Norfolk Island boobook, Norfolk Island owl, Norfolk Island morepork
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
A complete synonymy taken from (Checklist Committee (OSNZ), 2010:265):
Strix undulata Latham, 1802: Index Ornith. Suppl.: 17 – Norfolk Island.; Ninox boobook royana Mathews, 1912: Austral Avian Rec. 1: 120 – Norfolk Island.; Spiloglaux novaeseelandiae royana (Mathews); Mathews 1916, Birds Australia 5(3): 333.; Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (Latham); Peters 1940, Check-list Birds World 4: 140.; Ninox royana Mathews; Wakelin 1968, Notornis 15: 171.; Ninox novaeseelandiae; Moore 1981, Notornis 28: 55. Not Strix novaeseelandiae Gmelin, 1788.; Ninox undulata (Latham); Moore 1985, Notornis 32: 318.; Ninox (Ninox) novaeseelandiae undulata (Latham); Schodde 1997, Zool. Cat. Australia 37.2: 276.
Conservation Status
Extinct (only exists as a hybrid population)
Last record: 1996 (Olsen, 1997)
This subspecies was reduced to a single individual, a female, in 1986. Subsequently two males of the genetically closest living subspecies, N. n. novaeseelandiae, were introduced onto Norfolk Island in September of 1987, the actual closest recent relative having been extinct since c. 1950 (the Lord Howe Island Boobook, N. n. albaria). Successful breeding between the female and one of the two males has produced a viable hybrid population, whose Mitochondrial DNA is pure N. n. undulata, and approximately half of whose nuclear DNA is also N. n. undulata. Due to this close genetic affinity of the hybrid population to N. n. undulata, (Garnett et. al. 2011) have proposed that the subspecies be moved from "Extinct" to "Critically Endangered".
Distribution
Norfolk Island, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
See here: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Ninox_(Ninox)_novaeseelandiae_undulata
Other specimens: HLW
Holotype (royana): AMNH
Media
Above: illustration from Mathews (1928).
References
Original scientific description:
Latham, J. (1801). Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae. London: G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp.
Other references:
Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington. [p. 265]
Christidis, L. and Boles, Walter E. (1994). The taxonomy and species of birds of Australia and its Territories. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Monograph 2. Melbourne, RAOU.
De Ravin, J. A. (1975). The birds of Norfolk Island. Aust. Bird Watcher 6: 4-10.
del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (1999) Handbook of the birds of the world, 5. Lynx Ed., Barcelona.
Double, Michael and Olsen, Penny. (1997). Simplified polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based sexing assists conservation of an endangered owl, the Norfolk Island Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Bird Conservation International 7: 283-286.
Garnett, Stephen (ed.). (1992). Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. RAOU Report Number 82. 212 pp.
Garnett, S. T. and Crowley, G. M. (2000). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000. Canberra, ACT: Environment Australia & Birds Australia.
Garnett, Stephen T., Hayward-Brown, Brittany K. et al. (2022). Australia's most imperilled vertebrates. Biological Conservation 270: 109561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109561
Stephen T. Garnett, Penny Olsen, Stuart H.M. Butchart and Ary. A. Hoffmann. (2011). Did hybridization save the Norfolk Island boobook owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata?. Oryx 45: 500-504. [Abstract]
Geyle, Hayley M. et al. (2018). Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions. Pacific Conservation Biology 24(2): 157-167. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC18006
Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1-306.
Hermes, N., Evans, O. & Evans, B. 1986. Norfolk Island birds: a review 1985. Notornis 33: 141-149.
Hicks, J. (1991). The last owl. Panorama 101: 46-50.
Hicks, J., Olsen, P. and Greenwood, D. (1990). Saving the last survivor. Birds International 2(10): 66-73.
Higgins, P. J. (ed.). (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, vol. 4. Parrots to Dollarbird. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
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Latham, J. (1802 ["1801"]). Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. pls CXX–CXL
Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List. Austral Avian Records 1(5): 118-120.
Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.
Mathews, Gregory Macalister. (1928). The Birds of Norfolk & Lord Howe Islands and the Australasian South Polar Quadrant: with additions to "birds of Australia". London: H.F. & G. Witherby. xii + 139 pp, pls 1-45. [p. 22, pl. 14]
Mathews, G.M. 1933. On the name of the Boobook Owl and on the genera Emblema and Paranectris. Ibis (3) 3: 353.
Meredith, Charles. (1985). The Vertebrate Fossil Fauna of Norfolk Island, and the Phylogeny of the Genus Plerodroma. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Zoology, Monash University, Melbourne.
Moore, James L. (1981). Norfolk Island notes 1971 to 1980. Notornis 28(1): 50-56.
Moore, James L. (1999). Norfolk Island Bird Notes, 1977 to 1997. Notornis 46(3): 354-364.
Mees, G. F. (1964). A revision of the Australian owls (Strigidae and Tytonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 65: 1-62.
Norman, J. A., Olsen, P. D. and Christidis, L. 1998. Molecular genetics confirms taxonomic affinities of the endangered Norfolk Island Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Biological Conservation 86: 33-36.
Olsen, Penny. (1986). Status and conservation of the Norfolk Island Boobook Ninox noveaseelandiae undulata. Canberra: Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, unpublished report.
Olsen, Penny. (1987). Conservation of the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl. Canberra: Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, unpublished report.
Olsen, Penny. (1989). The very last of the Norfolk Island Boobook. Geo 11(2): 70-77.
Olsen, Penny. (1990) Norfolk Island Owl-wild breeding program. Report on visit to island, December 1989. Canberra: Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, unpublished report.
Olsen, Penny. (1991) Norfolk Island Owl-wild breeding program. Report on visit to island, December 1990. Canberra: Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, unpublished report.
Olsen, Penny. (1994a) Norfolk Island Owl Recovery Program: report on visit to Norfolk Island, November 1993. Canberra: Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, unpublished report.
Olsen, Penny. (1994b) Recovery plan for the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Preliminary Draft. Canberra: Australian Nature Conservation Agency.
Olsen, Penny D. (1996). Re-establishment of an endangered subspecies: the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Bird Conservation International 6: 63-80.
Olsen, P. 1997. Recovery Plan for the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Canberra: Environment Australia.
Olsen, Penny. (2001). Feather and Brush: 300 Years of Australian Bird Art. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
Olsen, Penny, Hicks, J., Mooney, N. and Greenwood, D. (1994). Progress of the Norfolk Island Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata re-establishment programme. Pp.575-578 in B.-U. Meyburg and R. D. Chancellor, eds. Raptor conservation today. London: World Working Group on Birds of Prey.
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Olsen, Penny D., Mooney, N. J. and Olsen, J. (1989). Status and conservation of the Norfolk Island Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Pp.415-422 in B.-U. Meyburg and R. D. Chancellor, eds. Raptors in the modern world. London: World Working Group on Birds of Prey.
Norman, Janette, Olsen, Penny, and Christidis, Les (1998). Molecular genetics confirms taxonomic affinities of the endangered Norfolk Island Bookbook Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Biological Conservation 86(1): 33-36.
Rooke, I. (1986). Survey of the White Breasted White-eye and the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl on Norfolk Island, October-November 1985. RAOU Report 22.
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Schodde, R., Fullagar, P. and Hermes, N. (1983). A review of Norfolk Island birds: past and present. Aust. Natl Parks Wldlf. Serv. Spec. Publ. 8. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra. viii + 119 pp.
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https://cites.org/sites/default/files/common/com/ac/26/E26-20i.pdf