Ninox novaeseelandiae
The evocative call of the Southern Boobook is regularly heard in Canberra suburbs throughout the summer. They can be resident in the suburbs, where they live in pairs and hunt over a reasonably large territory, roosting during the day in thick bushy trees.
Boobooks are recorded in highest numbers in spring to early summer with a marked reduction in winter. Most records are of birds heard at night, with usually only one individual recorded, even though a pair may well be present. While the number of records is lower in winter, it may be because resident birds go unnoticed because they are not calling, or people are more indoors during the colder months.
Numbers were relatively high in the first two years of the survey but have remained fairly steady over the subsequent years. There have been seven breeding records. R=45. BR=55.
