Laughing Owl (Ninox albifacies)

Year Last Seen:

1970

Comments:

This species was found in New Zealand, but it is now Extinct, probably as a result of habitat conversion. The last confirmed record was of the nominate subspecies, in 1914.

Habitat:

The species roosted and nested among rocks in open country and on forest edge (Williams and Harrison 1972).

Causes:

Causes of the species's extinction are obscure, possibly habitat modification through grazing or burning, or predation by introduced mammals (Williams and Harrison 1972).

Distribution:

Sceloglaux albifacies was endemic to New Zealand with the nominate race on the South and Stewart Islands (with bones known from the Chatham Islands) and the subspecies rufifacies on the North Island. Birds were not uncommon until the first half of the 19th century, but were becoming rare by the 1840s. The last specimens of rufifacies were collected in 1889, with unconfirmed reports until the 1930s, and of albifacies, in 1914, with unconfirmed reports until the 1960s (Williams and Harrison 1972, Tennyson and Martinson 2006).

References:

IUCN Redbook Data