Laughing Owl

The Laughing Owl, also known by its Maori name whekau, was a medium-sized owl endemic to New Zealand that is now considered extinct, with the last confirmed records from the early twentieth century. It belonged to the hawk-owl genus Ninox, related to Australia's Boobook owls.

It earned its common name from its distinctive vocalization, described by early observers as a loud, laughing or shrieking series of notes carrying across the New Zealand landscape at night.

Today, knowledge of its feathers comes only from historical museum specimens, since the species no longer exists in the wild. Any feather-based identification attempt would therefore be purely of historical or educational interest.

Size and shape

• Broad, softly structured flight feathers suited to low, quiet flight over open or semi-open ground, consistent with a species that hunted largely on the ground
• Contour feathers notably loose and soft-edged, as described from preserved specimens

Color and pattern

• Yellowish-brown to darker chocolate-brown ground color, heavily mottled with paler buff and whitish streaking
• Facial area paler than the body, though without the sharply defined disc rim seen in some other owl groups

Distinguishing from similar species

• Larger and more heavily mottled than New Zealand's surviving Morepork (Southern Boobook relative), which is smaller and more evenly colored
• No living New Zealand owl shares its combination of large size and pale, streaky mottling, so any matching historical specimen feather is notable

Historical specimens describe a plumage of yellowish to dark brown, heavily mottled and streaked with pale buff and white, giving a soft, cryptic appearance. Sexes were reportedly similar in plumage. Because the species is extinct, modern understanding of seasonal or age-related plumage variation is limited to what survives in museum collections and early written accounts.

Formerly found across both main islands of New Zealand, in habitats ranging from forest to scrubland, tussock grassland, and rocky terrain, often nesting or roosting among rock crevices. It was a non-migratory resident. The species declined sharply after European settlement due to habitat change and introduced predators, and it is now extinct, with no confirmed sightings for over a century.

Historical accounts describe it hunting largely on the ground for insects, lizards, and small mammals, including introduced species, more so than many aerial-hunting owls. It nested in rock crevices and burrows rather than tree cavities. Its call, the source of its common name, was described as a loud series of dog-like or laughing notes. As this species is extinct, these behavioral notes come entirely from historical written records rather than modern observation.