---
title: "Ninoxe boubouk"
description: "Ninox novaeseelandiae — Oiseaux. The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by its Māori name ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, the Australian islands of Norfolk Island, and formerly on Lord Howe Island."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/fr/animal/morepork
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Ninoxe boubouk

> Ninox novaeseelandiae — Oiseaux. The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by its Māori name ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, the Australian islands of Norfolk Island, and formerly on Lord Howe Island.

- Scientific name: *Ninox novaeseelandiae*
- Category: `birds` (Oiseaux)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forêt)
- iNaturalist observations: 2730
- iNaturalist taxon: [979817](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/979817)

## Names

- en: Morepork
- de: Kuckuckskauz
- es: Nínox maorí
- fr: Ninoxe boubouk

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (2150), NF (12)

## Summary

The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also known by its Māori name ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, the Australian islands of Norfolk Island, and formerly on Lord Howe Island. Its names (also including boobook and mopoke) are onomatopoeic, owing to the species’ distinctive calls. Three subspecies of the morepork are recognised, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population.
First described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, the morepork was thought to be the same species as the Australian boobook (N. boobook), native to Australia, Timor-Leste and New Guinea, something…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morepork

## Photo

![Ninoxe boubouk](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/morepork/medium.jpg)

Photo: Henry Hart · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202016306

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/morepork?lang=fr` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).