? Laughing Owl Conservation status: Extinct (1914?)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae Genus: Sceloglaux Kaup, 1848 Species: S. albifacies
Binomial name
Sceloglaux albifacies (Gray GR, 1845)

The Laughing Owl (Sceloglaux albifacies), Whekau or White-faced Owl, was an endemic owl found in New Zealand, but is now extinct. It was plentiful when European settlers arrived in New Zealand in 1840. Specimens were sent to the British Museum where reports on them were published in 1845. 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (633x788, 55 KB) Summary By John Gerard Keulemans, in G.D. Rowleys Ornithological Miscellany, 1875-78. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (rhombozoans) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Many - see section below. ... Families Strigidae Tytonidae An owl is a member of any of some 220+ (222 currently known) species of solitary, mainly nocturnal birds of prey in the order Strigiformes. ... Genera Aegolius: saw-whet owls Asio: eared owls Athene Bubo: horned owls Ciccaba Glaucidium: pygmy owls Jubula Ketupa Lophostrix Micrathene: elf owls Mimizuku Nesasio Ninox Otus: scops owls Pseudoscops Pulsatrix Pyrroglaux: palau owls Sceloglaux Scotopelia Speotyto Strix: earless owls Surnia: hawk owls Uroglaux Xenoglaux Typical owls (family Strigidae) are one... Johann Jakob Kaup (April 10, 1803 - July 4, 1873) was a German naturalist. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... George Robert Gray (July 8, 1808 - May 6, 1872) was an English zoologist and author and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum in London for forty-one years. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Families Strigidae Tytonidae An owl is a member of any of some 220+ (222 currently known) species of solitary, mainly nocturnal birds of prey in the order Strigiformes. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The main entrance to the British Museum. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

By 1880, they were becoming rare, and the last recorded specimen was found dead at Blue Cliffs in Canterbury, New Zealand in 1914. There have been unconfirmed reports since then. In his book The Wandering Naturalist, Brian Parkinson describes reports of a Laughing Owl in the Pakahi near Opotiki in the 1940s. Laughing Owl egg fragments were apparently found in Canterbury in 1960. 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The New Zealand region of Canterbury mostly comprises the Canterbury Plains. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Extinction was caused by persecution, land use changes and the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats. Sweet clover (), introduced and naturalized to the U.S. from Eurasia as a forage and cover crop, supports insect biodiversity. ... Most feral kittens have little chance of surving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia. ... Binomial name Mustela erminea Linnaeus, 1758 The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the ermine and the short-tailed weasel, is a small mammal of the family Mustelidae. ...

Description

The Laughing Owl's plumage was yellowish-brown striped with dark brown. There were white straps on the scapulars, and occasionally the hind neck. Mantle feathers were edged with white. The wings and tail had light brown bars. The tarsus had yellowish to reddish-buff feathers. Closeup on a single white feather A feather is one of the epidermal growths that forms the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on a bird. ...

The facial disc was white behind and below the eyes, fading to grey with brown stripes towards the centre. The eyes were dark orange. Its length was 35.5-40cm (14-15.7") and wing length 26.4cm (10.4").

Voice

The call of the Laughing Owl has been described as "a loud cry made up of a series of dismal shrieks frequently repeated". The Laughing Owl was given its name because of this sound.

Other descriptions of the call were: "A peculiar barking noise ... just like the barking of a young dog"; "Precisely the same as two men "cooeying" to each other from a distance"; "A melancholy hooting note".

Others describe the call as a high-pitched chattering, only heard when the birds were on the wing and generally on dark and drizzly nights or immediately preceding rain.

Various whistling, chuckling and mewing notes were observed from a captive bird.

Habitat and diet

The Laughing Owl generally occupied rocky, low rainfall areas. It was also found in forest districts on the North Island. Their diet was catholic, including a range of prey items, including beetles, lizards, small birds, and later on rats and mice. Laughing Owls were apparently ground feeders, chasing prey on foot. Knowledge on their diet, and how that diet changed over time, is preserved in fossil and sub-fossil deposits of their pellets. These pellets have been a boon to the paleobiological research of New Zealand's late Pleistocene and Holocene animal communities, creating concentrations of otherwise poorly preserved small bones. The owls' diet generally reflected the communities of small animals in the area, taking prions (small seabirds) where they lived near colonies, snipe, parakeets and even large earthworms. Once Pacific Rats were introduced to New Zealand and began to reduce the number of native prey items the Laughing Owl was able to switch to eating them instead. They were still therefore relatively common when European settlers arrived. Being large and aggressive they were able to deal with the introduced rats that had caused the extinction of so much of their prey; however, the stoats introduced to control feral rabbits were too much for the species. Prey can refer to: Look up Prey in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A prey animal eaten by a predator in an act called predation. ... A fossil Ammonite Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. ... Owls eat small mammals. ... The Pleistocene epoch (pronounced like ply-stow-seen) is part of the geologic timescale. ... The Holocene epoch is a geological period that extends from the present back about 10,000 radiocarbon years. ... A prion (pronounced pree-on) — short for proteinaceous infectious particle — is a unique type of infectious agent, as it is made only of protein. ... Seabirds are birds that spend much of their lives, outside the breeding season at least, at sea. ... Genera Coenocorypha Gallinago Lymnocryptes A Snipe is any of 18 very similar wading bird species, characterised by a very long slender bill and cryptic plumage. ... A parakeet is a kind of bird, usually describing a budgerigar, but also possibly describing a small parrot. ... Families Suborder Haplotaxina   Haplotaxidae Suborder Moniligastrina   Moniligastridae Suborder Lumbricina   Alluroididae   Eudrilidae   Glossoscolecidae   Lumbricidae   Sparganophilidae   Acanthodrilidae   Octochaetidae   Exxidae   Megascolecidae   Microchaetidae   Eudrilidae Suborder Tubificina   Dorydrilidae   Enchytraeidae   Naididae   Opistocystidae   Phreodrilidae   Tubificidae Earthworm is the common name for the larger members of the Oligochaeta (which is either a class or subclass depending on the... Binomial name Rattus exulans (Peale, 1848) The Polynesian Rat or Pacific Rat (Rattus exulans), known to the Maori as Kiore, is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the Brown Rat and Black Rat. ... This article is about the continent. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of taxa. ... Binomial name Mustela erminea Linnaeus, 1758 The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the ermine and the short-tailed weasel, is a small mammal of the family Mustelidae. ... Genera Pentalagus Bunolagus Nesolagus Romerolagus Brachylagus Sylvilagus Oryctolagus Poelagus Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae, found in many parts of the world. ...

Breeding

Breeding began in September or October. The nests were lined with dried grass and were on bare ground, in rocky ledges, fissures or under boulders. Two white, roundish eggs were laid, measuring 44-51 x 38-43 mm (1.7-2" x 1.5-1.7"). Incubation took 25 days, with the male feeding the female on the nest.

Distribution

In the North Island, specimens were allegedly collected from the forest districts of Mt Taranaki or Mount Egmont (1856) and the Wairarapa (1868); the loss of the former and the unclear history of the latter led to suspicions that the bird may not have occurred on the North Island at all. This theory has been refuted, however, after ample bones of the species were found in North Island. The owl was sighted in Porirua and Te Karaka. According to Maori tradition, they also occurred in Urewera. In the South Island, they inhabited low rainfall districts, including Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. They were also found in the central mountains and possibly Fiordland. Specimens were collected from Stewart Island in 1880. North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ... Mount Taranaki (also called Mount Egmont [1]) is a dormant stratovolcano located in the west of New Zealands North Island. ... The Wairarapa is a district or subregion of New Zealand occupying the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of Wellington and south-west of Hawke Bay. ... Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... The South Island The South Island forms one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ...

Subspecies

• Sceloglaux albifacies albifacies - South Island and Stewart Island.
• Sceloglaux albifacies rufifacies - North Island.

References

• Worthy, Trevor H., & Holdaway, Richard N. (2002) The Lost World of the Moa, Indiana University Press:Bloomington, ISBN 0-253-34034-9