A recent specimen of a Tasmanian Boobook Ninox leucopsis recovered on Lord Howe Island

On 11 July 2019, during the Rodent Eradication Program on Lord Howe Island using aerial and ground rodentbaiting, the recovery of dead non-target birds included a recently dead boobook Ninox sp. found on a resident’s property. Two Tyto species were also recovered. Despite automated sound-recording equipment stationed within the forests of the Island, no records of Ninox vocalisations were made before discovery of the boobook specimen; however, two instances of Ninox owl calls were reported anecdotally within The Settlement. There was speculation from some Island residents that the recovered boobook could have been an individual of the extinct endemic subspecies, the Lord Howe Boobook N. novaeseelandiae albaria. The boobook was forwarded to the Australian Museum for further visual scrutiny, collection of morphometric data, DNA analysis, and preparation for the Australian Museum collection. There was overlap in plumage and morphological measurements between both the Tasmanian Boobook (N. leucopsis) and the nominate Tasman Morepork from New Zealand (N. n. novaeseelandiae), but the specimen was distinct from the larger Australian mainland N. boobook. DNA analysis provided conclusive evidence that the bird was a male N. leucopsis, exhibiting an overall clean-white spotted pattern and darker brown coloration. The occurrence of a Ninox species on Lord Howe Island is the first record in more than 50 years and should prompt further exploration of the dispersal and possible migration of boobooks from Tasmania.