Description:
The boobook owl does not posses the distinctive facial mask of the barn or masked owls. Boobooks are the smallest of the Australian owl species but they vary in size depending on where they live. Their colour is dark brown with spots of white and grey. The eyes are often bright yellow.

Distribution:
Australia and Timor and S New Guinea.

Habitat:
The boobook is found living in areas from rainforest to desert and it’s distinctive “boo-book” or “more-pork” call can even be heard in the inner city suburbs.

Diet:
The boobook is renown for its acrobatic skills in catching invertebrate prey such as moths, beetles, spiders and crickets. Vertebrates, such as rodents, small bats and birds are also taken.

Breeding:
Their breeding season is usually late winter to early summer. They lay rounded eggs, white in colour, with 2 to 3 eggs per clutch. The nest is usually in a tree hollow.

Call:
The distinctive “boo-book” or “more-pork” call. Normal call is a brief double hoot with the second note pitched lower than the first, each note lasting for about a quarter of a second with a half second gap in between.